Constitutionality of the Foreign Service Grievance Board’s Oversight Authority

The final decisionmaking authority of the Foreign Service Grievance Board violates the Appointments Clause of Article II because members of the Board are inferior officers who are not subject to the direction and supervision of a politically accountable Executive Branch official.

Those provisions of the Foreign Service Act that vest the Board with final decisionmaking authority cannot be constitutionally enforced. Instead, such provisions must be severed and final decisionmaking authority returned to the relevant presidentially accountable officer—the Secretary of State.