with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a term of seven years. By statute 5 U.S.C. §§ 1201, “not more than 2 […] shall be adherents of the same political party”. The chair of the board requires two separate Senate confirmations, one as a member of the board and one as chair. The President can designate a vice chair without Senate confirmation. Significant appeals The largest settlement since the inception of MSPB in 1979 was for $820,000 in Robert W. Whitmore v. Department of Labor. The Board approved the settlement on June 5, 2013. Whitmore was fired after giving Congressional testimony that Occupational Safety and Health Administration's workplace injury and illness program was deliberately ineffective. Whitmore, who had worked for the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 37 years, was represented by noted DC plaintiff's employment lawyer Bob Seldon. The largest settlement before Whitmore was for $755,000 to former Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer, Gary J. Aguirre, for his wrongful termination in 2005. The SEC settled Aguirre's claim on June 29, 2009. In January 2011, the Board ordered the U.S. Park Police to reinstate its former Chief, Teresa Chambers, who had been fired in July 2004 for speaking to the Washington Post about the consequences of Park Police staff shortages. The Board also found her entitled to retroactive pay dating back to July 2004 and her legal costs. Merit Principles survey The Merit Systems Protection Board surveyed federal employees in 1992 and 2010. The response rate was 64 and 58 percent, netting approximately 13,000 and 42,000 responses in the 1992 and 2010 surveys, respectively. One question asked, "During the last 12 months, did you personally observe or obtain direct evidence of one or more illegal or wasteful activities involving your agency?" In 1992, 17.7 percent of respondents answered yes. In 2010, only 11.1 percent of respondents answered yes. "In 1992, 53 percent of respondents who made a disclosure reported that they were identified as the source. In 2010, 43 percent reported that they were identified." While the trend is in the right direction, "In both 1992 and 2010, approximately one-third of the individuals who felt they had been identified as a source of a report of wrongdoing also perceived either threats or acts of reprisal, or both". "To qualify for protection under the Whistleblower Protection Act, the individual must be disclosing a violation of a law, rule, or regulation;