The Donald Trump administration appealed to the US Supreme Court on Wednesday asking for an emergency ruling that would allow it to proceed with the removal of administrators who oversee independent agencies.
The administration asked the conservative-majority court to temporarily block a ruling that ordered the reinstatement of fired administrators, but also suggested that the justices should address and deliberate on the broader issue of presidential power, according to the AP.
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit voted 7-4 this week to reinstate Gwynne Wilcox to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and Cathy Harris to the Merit Systems Protection Commission while their cases are resolved.
The appeals court ruling overturned a decision by a three-judge panel that had allowed the firings to proceed.
The NLRB resolves hundreds of unfair labor practice cases, and with Wilcox's removal the five-member board of directors lacked a quorum.
Wilcox was the first black woman to serve on the NLRB in the institution's 90-year history.
She first joined the NLRB board of directors in 2021, and the Senate confirmed her in September 2023 to serve a second term expected to last five years.
The other board in the running reviews federal worker disputes and could be a significant obstacle as the administration seeks to make workforce cuts.
Attorney General D. John Sauer told the Supreme Court that reinstating the board members “would cause grave and irreparable harm to the president and the Constitution’s system of separation of powers.”
Harris and Wilcox can be removed "at will" by the president, Sauer argued.
In lower courts, Wilcox's lawyers said Trump could not fire her without notice, a hearing or identifying any "neglect of duty or misconduct in office" on her part.
The case concerns a 1935 Supreme Court decision known as Humphrey's Executor, in which the nation's highest court unanimously ruled that a president cannot dismiss independent board members without cause.
The decision has been contested for decades by conservative legal theorists, who argue that the ruling wrongly restricts the President's power.
The current conservative majority of the STF has already reduced the scope of the decision in 2020.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court blocked a court ruling that sought to force the government to accept the return to work of thousands of employees who were laid off to cut costs.
The Supreme Court ruled on an appeal filed by the government against a decision by a federal judge in California who ordered 16,000 probationary employees to be reinstated while a lawsuit continues, alleging that their dismissals did not comply with federal law.
The effect of the court order will keep employees at six federal agencies on paid administrative leave for now.
This is the third time in less than a week that the justices have sided with the government in its fight against federal judges whose orders have delayed President Trump's agenda.
The court also suspended a ruling restoring scholarships for teacher training and overturned a ruling that froze deportations under an 18th-century war law.
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