The latest twist in Gwynne Wilcox’s fight to regain her seat on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has turned in her favor: On April 7, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reinstated Wilcox, who had been fired by President Donald Trump in January.
The decision once again restored a quorum to the board. A D.C. Circuit panel had recently blocked Wilcox from the seat during litigation, but the full D.C. Circuit ruled she should serve as a member of the NLRB.
Wilcox’s attorneys said the president couldn’t fire her without identifying “neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.” They argued that the administration’s only recourse is to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to “adopt a more expansive view of presidential power.”
The full D.C. Circuit’s ruling relied on the Supreme Court’s 1935 decision in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, which shielded independent agency members from termination without cause by the president.
“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,” the full D.C. Circuit said in a brief opinion. It noted that the Supreme Court has repeatedly and recently said that Humphrey’s Executor remains precedential and said this fact requires “denying the government’s emergency motions.”
The Trump administration has called for the reversal of Humphrey’s Executor.
The full appeals court’s decision was by a vote...
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