Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit December 17, 1991, Nos. 91-3271, 91-3281 (Amin v. Merit Systems Protection Board)

COWEN, Senior Circuit Judge.

In these cases, which have been consolidated for the purposes of this decision, the court is called upon to resolve the issues presented in two distinct but related controversies.

The first issue is whether under the provisions of 5 U.S.C.A. § 7703(a)(2) (West Supp.