5 U.S.C. § 1211

Establishment

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(a) There is established the Office of Special Counsel, which shall be headed by the Special Counsel. The Office shall have an official seal which shall be judicially noticed. The Office shall have its principal office in the District of Columbia and shall have field offices in other appropriate locations.(b) The Special Counsel shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a term of 5 years. The Special Counsel may continue to serve beyond the expiration of the term until a successor is appointed and has qualified, except that the Special Counsel may not continue to serve for more than one year after the date on which the term of the Special Counsel would otherwise expire under this subsection. The Special Counsel shall be an attorney who, by demonstrated ability, background, training, or experience, is especially qualified to carry out the functions of the position. A Special Counsel appointed to fill a vacancy occurring before the end of a term of office of the Special Counsel’s predecessor serves for the remainder of the term. The Special Counsel may be removed by the President only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. The Special Counsel may not hold another office or position in the Government of the United States, except as otherwise provided by law or at the direction of the President.(Added Pub. L. 101–12, § 3(a)(11), Apr. 10, 1989, 103 Stat. 19, § 1211(a), and Pub. L. 95–454, title II, § 202(a), Oct. 13, 1978, 92 Stat. 1122, § 1204; renumbered § 1211(b) and amended Pub. L. 101–12, § 3(a)(6), (12), Apr. 10, 1989, 103 Stat. 17, 19; Pub. L. 103–424, § 3(a), Oct. 29, 1994, 108 Stat. 4361.)Editorial NotesAmendments

1994—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 103–424 inserted after first sentence “The Special Counsel may continue to serve beyond the expiration of the term until a successor is appointed and has qualified, except that the Special Counsel may not continue to serve for more than one year after the date on which the term of the Special Counsel would otherwise expire under this subsection.”

1989—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 101–12, § 3(a)(6), (12), renumbered section 1204 of this title as subsec. (b) of this section, substituted “Special Counsel shall be appointed by the President” for “Special Counsel of the Merit Systems Protection Board shall be appointed by the President from attorneys”, substituted “The Special Counsel shall be an attorney who, by demonstrated ability, background, training, or experience, is especially qualified to carry out the functions of the position. A Special Counsel appointed to fill a vacancy occurring before the end of a term of office of the Special Counsel’s predecessor serves for the remainder of the term.” for “A Special Counsel appointed to fill a vacancy occurring before the end of a term of office of his predecessor serves for the remainder of the term.”, and inserted at end “The Special Counsel may not hold another office or position in the Government of the United States, except as otherwise provided by law or at the direction of the President.”

Statutory Notes and Related SubsidiariesEffective Date

Subchapter effective 90 days following Apr. 10, 1989, see section 11 of Pub. L. 101–12, set out as a note under section 1201 of this title.

Allegations of Wrongdoing Against Special Counsel or Deputy Special Counsel

Pub. L. 110–409, § 7(b), Oct. 14, 2008, 122 Stat. 4312, which provided for review by the Integrity Committee of allegations of wrongdoing against the Special Counsel or the Deputy Special Counsel, was repealed by Pub. L. 114–317, § 7(a)(1), Dec. 16, 2016, 130 Stat. 1605. See section 424(d)(12) of this title.

Transfer of Funds

Pub. L. 101–12, § 8(c), Apr. 10, 1989, 103 Stat. 34, provided that: “The personnel, assets, liabilities, contracts, property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and other funds employed, held, used, arising from, available or to be made available to the Special Counsel of the Merit Systems Protection Board are, subject to section 1531 of title 31, United States Code, transferred to the Special Counsel referred to in section 1211 of title 5, United States Code (as added by section 3(a) of this Act), for appropriate allocation.”

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 46 cases (13 in the last 5 years), 1992–2025 · leading case: Bloch v. Exec. Off. of the President, 164 F. Supp. 3d 841 (E.D. Va. 2016).

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Bloch v. Exec. Off. of the President, 164 F. Supp. 3d 841 (E.D. Va. 2016). · cites it 7× “The fifteen-count Amended Complaint asserts the following claims: (1) Count I: Deprivation of property without due process of law in violation of the Fifth Amendment against the EOP, the OPM, and the OSC; (2) Count II: Violation of 5 U.S.C. § 1211 , which confers a five-year…”

PHH Corp. v. Consum. Fin. Prot. Bureau, 881 F.3d 75 (D.C. Cir. 2018). · cites it 2× “§ 902 (a), and the Office of Special Counsel established under a sole director in 1978, the same year as the Office of Independent Counsel upheld in Morrison, see 5 U.S.C. § 1211 ; Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, Pub.”

Free Enter. Fund v. Pub. Co. Acct. Oversight Bd., 561 U.S. 477 (2010). · cites it 2× “” 5 U. S. C. §1211 (b) “The Commissioners shall be chosen solely on the basis of their technical qualifications, professional standing, and Postal Regulatory 18 demonstrated expertise in economics, Commission accounting, law, or public administration, and may be removed by the…”

McInnis v. Duncan, 697 F.3d 661 (7th Cir. 2012). “After submitting two administrative charges alleging race and gender discrimination as well as retaliation, Mclnnis filed suit against the agency claiming that management had violated the Whistleblower Protection Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 1211 to 1222, and Title VII of the Civil Rights…”

Parkinson v. Dep't of Just., 815 F.3d 757 (Fed. Cir. 2016). “Among other things, the 1989 Act created a new Office of Special Counsel (OSC) with vari- ous powers, see 5 U.S.C. §§ 1211–19; 103 Stat. at 19–29, and it also specifically provided a new Individual Right of Action, see 5 U.”

Kerr v. Merit Sys. Prot. Bd., 908 F.3d 1307 (Fed. Cir. 2018). “at 1056-57 (citing 5 U.S.C. §§ 1211 - 15 ) (emphasis in original).”

Daniels v. Merit Sys. Prot. Bd., 832 F.3d 1049 (9th Cir. 2016). “The Office of Special Counsel was established by 5 U.S.C. § 1211 '. Aggrieved employees are required to "seek corrective action from the Special Counsel before seeking corrective action from the Board.”

Robert Zachariasiewicz, Jr. v. DOJ, 48 F.4th 237 (4th Cir. 2022). “2017) (citing 5 U.S.C. §§ 1211–19). After some procedural wrangling, Zachariasiewicz did just that, but he received no relief from the Special Counsel.”

Weber, Calvin J. v. United States, 209 F.3d 756 (D.C. Cir. 2000). “See 5 U.S.C. § 1211 . To be sure, an employee alleging a prohibited personnel practice must give the OSC a chance to investigate before going to the MSPB.”

Kenneth E. Knollenberg v. Merit Sys. Prot. Bd., 953 F.2d 623 (Fed. Cir. 1992). “After many administrative grievances contesting the reassignment, he filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel, see 5 U.S.C. § 1211 (Supp.1990), alleging that his reassignment was in reprisal for disclosure of mismanagement at the shipyard, a prohibited personnel…”

Lawson v. FMR LLC, 724 F. Supp. 2d 141 (D. Mass. 2010). “The legal principle cited to support this charge comes not from SOX, but rather from the federal Whistleblower Protec *165 tion Act, 5 U.S.C. § 1211 et seq. See Huffman v. Office of Personnel Mgmt.”

Feds for Med. Freedom v. Biden, 30 F.4th 503 (5th Cir. 2022). “Specifically, they could have filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel (“OSC”), an independent agency, see 5 U.S.C. § 1211 , asserting that Executive Order 14043 constitutes a “prohibited personnel practice” affecting a “significant change in duties,…”

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