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Opinion of the Court
nontextual construction of § 7114(a)(2)(B) rejected by the Authority.
Second, NASA and its OIG submit that, in other instances, the Authority has construed § 7114(a)(2)(B) so broadly that it will impair NASA-OIG's ability to perform its investigatory responsibilities. The Authority responds that it has been sensitive to agencies' investigative needs in other cases, and that union representation is unrelated to OIG independence from agency interference. Whatever the propriety of the Authority's rulings in other cases, NASA and NASA-OIG elected not to challenge the Authority's conclusion that the NASA-OIG examiner's attempt to limit union representative participation constituted an unfair labor practice. To resolve the question presented in this case, we need not agree or disagree with the Authority's various rulings regarding the scope of § 7114(a)(2)(B), nor must we consider whether the outer limits of the Authority's interpretation so obstruct the performance of an OIG's statutory responsibilities that the right must be more confined in this context.8
In any event, the right Congress created in § 7114(a)(2)(B) vindicates obvious countervailing federal policies. It provides a procedural safeguard for employees who are under investigation by their agency, and the mere existence of the right can only strengthen the morale of the federal work force. The interest in fair treatment for employees under
8 The same can be said of NASA's and NASA-OIG's concerns that the reach of § 7114(a)(2)(B) will become the subject of collective bargaining between agencies and unions, or hinder joint or independent FBI investigations of federal employees. See United States Nuclear Regulatory Comm'n v. FLRA, 25 F. 3d 229 (CA4 1994) (adopting the agency's position that it could not bargain over certain procedures by which its OIG conducts investigatory interviews); 50 F. L. R. A., at 616, n. 13 (distinguishing FBI investigations). The process by which the scope of § 7114(a)(2)(B) may properly be determined, and the application of that section to law enforcement officials with a broader charge, present distinct questions not now before us.
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