A federal appeals court ruled Friday that President Donald Trump was within legal parameters when he fired Democratic appointees at federal agencies and filled the positions with new board members.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit handed down a decision ruling that Trump did not abuse presidential powers when he removed Cathy Harris from the Merit Systems Protection Board and Gwynne Wilcox from the National Labor Relations Board.
The decision marks a reversal of lower court rulings, which argued the removals were improper because of statutory protections insulating the board members from being fired except for limited reasons, including “neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.”
But the appeals court majority ruled that “Congress cannot restrict the President’s ability to remove NLRB or MSPB members” because the two agencies exert substantial executive branch authority.
Wilcox and Harris sued after being fired by the Trump administration, claiming that their removals violated laws requiring cause for termination. The appeals court disagreed, saying the labor boards have more powers tied to the executive branch and are structured differently than the Federal Trade Commission, members of which the Supreme Court prevented the president from firing in a 1935 decision.
The Supreme Court weighed in on the case in May, issuing a verdict that favored the White House.
“Because the Constitution vests the executive power in the President, he may remove without cause executive officers who exercise that power on his behalf, subject to narrow exceptions recognized by our precedents,” the majority held in a 6-3 decision, citing the high court’s 2020 precedent in Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
But the debate continued to play out in appeals court, as critics raised questions stemming largely from the 1935 decision in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, which they believe curtailed Trump’s power to fire independent agency members.
DC CIRCUIT PANEL SKEPTICAL OF TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ABILITY TO FIRE INDEPENDENT OFFICIALS
The Supreme Court is set to hear another case next week that could allow justices to overrule the 1935 decision.
The court will examine challenges to Trump’s firing of a Democrat-appointed member of the FTC and decide whether the president holds the authority to fire Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter.