Two Federal officials with key roles in battling back against the Trump administration’s campaign to slash the Federal government workforce have been reinstated – at least for now – to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) and the National Labor Relations Board.
In a 7-4 decision issued today, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reinstated Cathy Harris as chair of MSPB, and Gwynne Wilcox as a member of NLRB.
The decision handed down reverses a ruling late last month by a three-judge panel of the same court.
Harris was first demoted from the MSPB chair position by President Trump on the first day of his administration on Jan. 20, and later fired on Feb. 10 without any public justification for that move. Harris filed a suit arguing that the president can only remove an MSPB member for “inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.”
She was reinstated to her role in early March after a Federal judge blocked Trump’s attempted firing, but was removed again after the administration was granted a stay until today’s decision.
Wilcox was also fired in January by Trump and reinstated to her role in early March after a Federal judge ruled that Trump had acted illegally when he fired a member of an independent labor agency.
While Monday’s ruling gave Harris and Wilcox the greenlight to return to their posts, it also paves the possibility for the Trump administration to file an emergency appeal at the Supreme Court.
The court’s latest order largely relies on Humphrey’s Executor, a landmark Supreme Court decision from 1935 that held the president cannot dismiss officials from quasi-legislative or quasi-judicial agencies except for reasons permitted by Congress. The Appeals Court majority in the decision released today noted that until the Supreme Court acts, current precedent supports keeping the officials in their roles.
“The Supreme Court has repeatedly told the courts of appeals to follow extant Supreme Court precedent unless and until that Court itself changes it or overturns it,” reads the ruling.
Harris and Wilcox have argued that it is outside of the president’s authority to fire them, while the administration has countered that is unconstitutional to block the president from removing officials.
“We do the parties … no favors by unnecessarily delaying Supreme Court review of this significant and surprisingly controversial aspect of Article II authority” wrote U.S. Circuit Judge Karen Henderson, an appointee of former President George H.W. Bush, in dissent. “Only the Supreme Court can decide the dispute and, in my opinion, the sooner, the better.”
The NLRB enforces labor laws related to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices in the private sector. MSPB safeguards Federal employees’ rights by reviewing disciplinary actions and ensuring adherence to merit-based employment principles.