Mine-Safety Agency Shakeup Will Bring Backlog to Review Process

Mine operators face growing delays over the resolution of contested safety and discrimination cases after cuts to an independent agency that hears disputes over citations, attorneys say.

The Trump administration last week fired Moshe Z. Marvit, a Biden-appointee to the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, closed down the agency’s Pittsburgh office, and terminated dozens more staffers, including an administrative law judge.

Marvit’s dismissal sets up FMSHRC to lose its quorum in August when the terms for the two other Biden appointees expire.

Attorneys say that’s likely because the commissioners must have expert knowledge of mine safety, and no replacements have been named yet.

“The commissioners are required by statute to have expertise in this area before they can even be appointed, so losing that is unfortunate for how cases might be resolved,” said Emily Scott, who represents mine operators as senior counsel at Conn Maciel Carey LLP and previously spent a decade as an attorney for the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Failure to fill these FMSHRC vacancies properly would potentially cut a critical step in the mine safety appeals process—undermining both worker protection goals for the Mine Safety and Health Administration and the predictability businesses need to operate efficiently, attorneys said.

The commission’s recent shakeup also marks another move by the Trump administration to weaken the power of certain federal agencies and exert more control over removing members of independent bodies once thought to be insulated from such dismissals.

Impending Backlog

The federal mine safety appeals agency has dealt with a significant backlog before as a result of not having enough staff. These recent cuts could spur the start of another one, attorneys say.

FMSHRC operates like a specialized court system with two main layers: administrative law judges and an appeals panel. A dispute is first heard by an ALJ; a party can appeal that decision to the commissioners, who review the case and issue a final agency decision.

Judge John Lewis was among those cut from the commission staff last week. The loss of even a single ALJ can exacerbate the backlog of cases because that means fewer people available to hear and decide on pending ones.

“I have cases assigned to him,” Arthur Wolfson, a partner at Fisher & Phillips, said of Lewis. “I don’t know the status of those cases and don’t know who to call about those cases. It really leaves a lot of uncertainty for those of us that practice before the commission right now.”

The lack of communication from FMSHRC about the effects of cuts to the agency has made it difficult to relay the best path forward to mine operators, Wolfson said.

A Numbers Game

The previous backlog began about 20 years ago when there weren’t enough ALJs and staff to keep up with the growing number of contested mine safety cases, according to a 2015 joint status reportfrom the commission and the Department of Labor. At the same time, tougher enforcement led to more cases being appealed, so filings increased faster than FMSHRC could resolve them.

From 2000 to 2005 the average number of new cases filed was about 2,300 per year with the average number of pending cases at about 1,400. That dramatically increased in 2006 and thereafter FMSHRC received about 9,200 new cases by 2009 with more than 17,500 cases pending at the trial level by 2010, according to the report.

In comparison, the total number of new cases the agency received in 2025 was about 2,400, and it anticipated a case inventory of roughly 1,100 at the start of this year.

FMSHRC had a total of 55 employees in 2025, compared to 45 in 2006 when it started to experience the increase of caseload.

It took years about six years for FMSHRC to develop a backlog and roughly four years to reduce it with the help of funding from Congress.

The Labor Department received $18.2 million and FMSHRC received $3.8 million between July 2010 and July 2011. DOL used more than half of its appropriation at the time on its Solicitor’s Office to establish new offices in five cities to handle backlog reduction in litigation and hire more lawyers.

The new staffing cuts will leave mine operators facing longer legal battles and greater uncertainty over enforcement and compliance requirements, according to Scott.

“We’re not there yet—but I think many mine operators are going to see slower resolution of cases and that has consequences for MSHA as well,” Scott said.

MSHA doesn’t take contested cases into account until they become final, so a delay could limit the agency’s ability to properly assess future penalties against a mine operator, she noted.