Court lets Trump fire regulators, for now
By: Aysha Bagchi
and Erin Mansfield
USA Today
..... The U.S. Supreme Court on April 9 [2025] granted President Donald Trump;s request to keep Democratic members off of two federal labor boards while their lawsuits continue, in a case that Trump's hopes will bring various parts of the federal government under his control.
.....
The move comes after an appeals court on April 7 [2025] blocked the president from removing Democratic members Gwynne Wilcox for the National Labor Relations Board and Democratic member Cathy Harris from the Merit Systems Protection board until their lawsuits challenging Trump's firing of them are resolved. The Supreme Court reversed that action, in line with what trump requested earlier in the day.
..... "The President should not be forced to delegate his executive power to agency heads who are demonstrably at odds with the Administration;s policy objectives for a single day - much less for the months that it would likely take for the courts to resolve this litigation," Trump said in his application to the court.
..... Chief Justice John Roberts, who signed the one-page decision, didn't explain his erosions. But Supreme court guidance on such orders suggests Roberts believes there is a "fair prospect" that a majority of the court will ultimately side with Trump.
..... Roberts ordered Harris and Wilcox to respond by April 15 [2025 to Trump's application.
..... The National Labor Relation Board is an independent federal agency that settles disputes between private sector unions and employees. When filled, it had five members who are each appointed by the president with the Senate's consent, to five-year terms. One member's term expires each year.
..... The Merit System Protection Board, another independent federal agency, is often the first stop for federal workers to allege illegal employment practices - bringing the board under special scrutiny as the Trump administration attempts to slash the federal workforce.
..... Wilcox and Harris are just two of seven independent agency board members Trump has fired. The women argue Trump is violations laws that protect them from being fired unless they have demonstrated "inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office."