Decision could accelerate shifts in union elections, ULP remedies, federal discipline
On December 5, 2025, the D.C. Circuit held that presidents may remove NLRB and MSPB members at will, finding the statutory for‑cause limits unconstitutional.
In consolidated appeals involving former NLRB member Gwynne A. Wilcox and former MSPB member and chair Cathy A. Harris, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that Congress may not restrict the President’s ability to remove members of the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board. The court reversed district court rulings that had reinstated Wilcox and Harris under statutory for‑cause removal protections.
The statutes at issue provide five‑year terms for NLRB members, removable by the President only for “neglect of duty or malfeasance in office,” and seven‑year terms for MSPB members, removable only for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” The government did not argue that Wilcox or Harris engaged in conduct meeting those standards. It argued instead that these limits are unconstitutional because the boards exercise substantial executive power that must remain subject to at‑will presidential removal.
The court described the NLRB’s authorities as extending beyond the narrow, quasi‑legislative or quasi‑judicial functions approved in Humphrey’s Executor in 1935. The NLRB conducts formal adjudications of unfair labor practice complaints; issues cease‑and‑desist orders; and...
Former University of Michigan head football coach Sherrone Moore is not guilty of the allegations levied against him by a female staff member, his attorney argued outside court on Thursday, Januar...