Two officials fired by Trump return to court to challenge his power [View all]
Source: NPR
May 16, 2025 5:01 AM ET
Appellate judges in Washington, D.C., will consider a key question on Friday: Does the president have the Constitutional authority to fire board members at agencies created by Congress to be independent of the White House?
More specifically: Did President Trump overstep when he removed National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox and Merit Systems Protection Board member Cathy Harris from their positions without cause?
Already, lower court judges have said yes, citing a 1935 Supreme Court decision known as Humphrey's Executor that upheld limits Congress placed on the president's removal powers. The judges ordered Wilcox and Harris temporarily returned to their seats.
But the Trump administration appealed those decisions, arguing that the lower court judges erred in their interpretation of that 1935 decision and that they exceeded their authority in ordering reinstatement. After some back and forth involving emergency motions at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court stepped in on April 9, with Chief Justice John Roberts issuing an order clearing the way for Wilcox and Harris to be removed again until the merits of their cases could be considered.
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2025/05/16/nx-s1-5399792/trump-harris-wilcox-firing-appeals-court
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