A split appeals court says two board members fired by President Donald Trump can go back to their jobs in a ruling ahead of a likely Supreme Court showdown on the president’s power over independent agencies
Appeals court reverses Trump firings of 2 board members in cases likely headed for the Supreme CourtThe Associated PressWASHINGTON
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two board members fired by President Donald Trump can go back to their jobs, a split appeals court ruled Monday ahead of a likely Supreme Court showdown on the president’s power over independent agencies.
An appeals court in the nation’s capital handed down the 7-4 decision in lawsuits brought by two women separately fired from agencies that both deal with labor issues.
The order relies largely on a 90-year-old Supreme Court decision known as Humphrey’s Executor, which found that presidents can’t fire independent board members without cause.
But the ruling has long rankled conservative legal theorists who argue it wrongly curtails the president’s power, and experts say the current conservative majority on the Supreme Court may be poised to overturn it.
The ruling reverses, at least for now, a judgment from a three-judge panel from the same U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Former President Joe Biden nominated both of the fired board members, Cathy Harris of the Merit Systems Protection Board and Gwynne Wilcox of the National Labor Relations Board.
The five-member NLRB lacked a quorum after Wilcox’s removal. The three-member MSPB enforces civil rights law in the workplace.
