A member of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission is suing President Donald Trump over his firing, arguing the president exceeded his constitutional authority by removing officials from independent agencies without cause.
Moshe Marvit, who was appointed by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate in June 2022, served as a commissioner on the MSHRC, an independent body that provides trial and appellate review of disputes stemming from Mine Safety and Health Administration enforcement actions. His term was set to expire in 2028.
According to court filings filed Thursday, Marvit received no explanation for his May 1 dismissal, despite federal law stating that commissioners may only be removed before the end of their six-year terms for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”
The lawsuit says Marvit received an email sent to both his work and personal accounts that read:
“On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commissioner is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service.”
Court filings say that within minutes of receiving the email, Marvit lost access to all agency networks. Within an hour, his government-issued cellphone was placed into “lost phone mode,” rendering it unusable. The filing also notes that the commission later announced layoffs affecting additional staff.
The lawsuit argues Trump’s removal of Marvit violated both federal law and multiple sections of the Constitution.
“The Constitution empowers Congress to set reasonable limitations on the removal of the heads of independent agencies and it does not confer on the President an authority to violate Congress’s scheme,” the filing states.
“The President’s purported removal of the Commissioner Marvit violates the authorities vested in Congress by the Constitution and further violates the President’s duty to ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,’” it adds.
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The Trump administration is already facing multiple legal challenges over the firing of government officials from independent agencies. Under the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, presidents cannot remove independent agency officials over policy disagreements and may dismiss them only for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”
The legal fight comes as the Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision in Trump v. Slaughter in the coming weeks, a case testing whether Trump’s firing of a Federal Trade Commission member was constitutional.