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Washington, D.C.—The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) today urged a federal appeals court to reject a request by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for an expedited hearing on its appeal of a lower court ruling striking down as illegal the new DHS personnel rules.

The NTEU brief was filed in the U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In early November, DHS appealed a ruling by U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia upholding its injunction barring implementation of personnel rules the lower court had found illegal. Last week, DHS sought an expedited schedule.

NTEU argued that DHS’s purported justifications fail to satisfy the appeals court’s “demanding standards” for expedited hearing and argument.

On the contrary, NTEU pointed out, DHS’s own “sluggish approach to this litigation, as well as its decidedly unhurried pace for implementing the new human resources system” undercut any argument for deviating from the appeals court’s normal schedule in handling a case.

“NTEU believes that the gravity of the issues, which will impact the lives and careers of tens of thousands of DHS employees, deserves a full and fair hearing,” said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley. “DHS’s request strikes me as irrational and reaching given that the department has yet to show any sense of urgency regarding implementation of the new regulations.

In its response, NTEU attacked DHS’s assertion that the district court’s ruling has diminished the department’s effectiveness, saying that the department cannot support “by any facts or examples” an argument that its mission has been hampered in any way.

The original district court decision enjoining implementation of the regulations was issued in August; DHS then sought to have the injunction narrowed—a request that was rejected by the judge on Oct. 7.

DHS could have appealed the district court’s decision “over three months ago,” NTEU said, adding that the agency “could have simultaneously sought a stay of the district court’s decision to enable it to move forward” with implementation pending outcome of its appeal. “For whatever reason, the government chose not to pursue these remedies,” the union said.

“The fact is that—until it requested that this court expedite the appeal—the government has never displayed any sense of urgency in implementing the new regulations,” NTEU argued.

To read NTEU's motion, visit http://cbpunion.org/DHSRegulations/NTEUMotion11.29.pdf

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing some 150,000 employees in 30 agencies and departments, including some 14,000 in the DHS Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP).