Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts swoops in to save Trump firing decision
Both fired employees are challenging their terminations as 'unlawful' in separate lawsuits filed in DC federal court
By Breanne Deppisch , Haley Chi-Sing Fox News
Published April 9, 2025 4:58pm EDT
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday agreed to temporarily halt the reinstatement of two fired federal board members, delivering another near-term win to President Donald Trump as his administration continues to spar in federal courts over the extent of his executive branch powers.
The brief stay handed down by Roberts is not a final ruling on the reinstatement of the two board members, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member Gwynne Wilcox and Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) member Cathy Harris – two Democratic appointees who were abruptly terminated by the Trump administration earlier this year.
Both had challenged their terminations as "unlawful" in separate suits filed in D.C. federal court.
But the order from Roberts does temporarily halt their reinstatements from taking force two days after a federal appeals court voted en banc to reinstate them.
Judges for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit voted 7-4 Monday to restore Wilcox and Harris to their respective boards, citing Supreme Court precedent in Humphrey’s Executor and Wiener v. United States as the backing for their decision.
They noted that the Supreme Court had never overturned or reversed the decades-old precedent regarding removal restrictions for government officials of "multimember adjudicatory boards" – including the NLRB and MSPB. "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," judges noted in their opinion.
Monday's ruling from the full panel was expected to spark intense backlash from the Trump administration, which has lobbed accusations of so-called "activist judges" that have slowed or halted some of Trump's executive orders and actions.
The Trump administration appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court almost immediately.
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