The DC federal court of appeals handed the Trump administration a temporary victory on Friday, overturning a district court ruling that ordered the revival of National Labor Relations Commission (NLRB) Gwyn Wilcox and Merritt Systems Protection Committee Kathy Harris.
Earlier this month, US District Judge Beryl Howell ordered NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox to revive after President Donald Trump's firing earlier this year.
Friday's ruling will stop both recovery as the case progresses.
President Trump and Kathy Harris (Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images; US Merit Systems Protection Board, Right.)
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Wilcox filed a lawsuit in DC Federal Court on February 5, alleging that the January 27 shooting violated Congressional Act, which outlines the appointment and removal of the NLRB.
Trump told Wilcox in a letter that the NLRB was “dismissed because it was not working in a way that matches the purpose of the project.” [his] management. “
He also cited multiple recent board decisions, claiming Wilcox “overly dislikes the interests of its employers.”
On February 10, Wilcox requested a summary judgment on a prompt basis, and after the March 5 hearing, the district court determined that she could remain a member of the NLRB.
President Trump fired Gwyn Wilcox, a member of the National Labor Relations Commission. He said the president has no legal authority to do so. (NLRB; AP Photo; US District Court)
In a similar lawsuit, Harris, a Democrat who led the Merritt Systems Protection Board (MSPB), argued that Trump had no authority to end her February 10th, and that he did not provide any reason for his firing.
However, unlike Wilcox, she did not receive a letter from the president, according to court documents.
She sued on February 11th, and the district court later granted her a temporary restraining order and revived her at MSPB.
E. Barrett Prettyman US Court in Washington, DC (DavidAke/Getty Images)
Howell previously said the case appears to be beyond his scope, saying, “I have realized that for both sides this court is just a speed bump to get to the Supreme Court.”
DC Circuit Court Consent Justin R. Walker and Karen Lecraft Henderson pointed to the Supreme Court precedent that Congress cannot limit the president's removal authority to an agency that “wields considerable enforceability.”
The NLRB and MSPB are administrative agencies.
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The objection by DC Circuit Judge Patricia A. Millett said: “We have argued two opinions that govern the Supreme Court precedent and allow us to ignore this Court's binding decision.
The stay decision also marks the first time in history that the Court of Appeal or Supreme Court has permitted the dismissal of members of the multi-member arbitration committee.
A federal court of appeals handed the Trump administration a temporary victory on Friday. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
She called the idea of making a decision Friday “impressive,” claiming that the decision would leave behind “hundreds of unresolved legal claims that the political sector was jointly and intentionally led to these expert arbitrage entities.”
Millett added the basis for the majority decision. “From the Federal Reserve Commission and the Nuclear Regulation Commission to the Court of Appeals for Veterans, it openly raises questions about the constitutionality of numerous federal laws, subject to the removal of staff on multi-member decision-making bodies.
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“That would be an extraordinary decision for a lower federal court to make under any circumstances,” she wrote in dissent. “I cannot use this court's hastily preliminary first-prospective ruling to announce a revolution in the law that the Supreme Court explicitly circumvented, and participate in a decision that locks up millions of employees and employers who say the law must go to these committees to resolve employment disputes.”
Jake Gibson of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
