Chief Justice John Roberts agreed on Wednesday to temporarily suspend the recovery of two fired federal board members, delivering another short-term victory to President Donald Trump as his administration continues modestly in federal courts within the scope of his executive authority.
The brief stay issued by Roberts is not the final ruling on the reinstatement of two Democratic appointees that ended abruptly earlier this year, two board members Gwynne Wilcox and Cathy Harris, a member of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).
Both challenged the termination as “illegal” in separate cases filed in DC Federal Court.
However, the order from Roberts temporarily suspends robbing them of power two days after the federal court of appeals voted to revive them.
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Gwyn Wilcox, left, and Merritt Systems Protection Committee member Kathy Harris sued the Trump administration after they were fired from their posts. (NLRB | AP Photos | US District Court)
A US Court of Appeals judge for the District of Columbia Circuit voted 7-4 on Monday to restore Wilcox and Harris to their respective boards, citing Humphrey’s enforcer and Wiener v. U.S. cutting edge.
They said the Supreme Court never overturned or overturned decades-old precedents regarding restrictions on elimination of government officials on “heavy ruling committees” including the NLRB and MSPB.
“The Supreme Court has repeatedly told the Court of Appeals to follow the existing Supreme Court precedent unless the Court itself has changed or overturned it,” the judge said in its opinion.
Monday’s ruling from the full panel was expected to spark a fierce backlash from the Trump administration. The Trump administration was accused of “activist judges” who delayed or stopped some of Trump’s executive orders and actions.
The Trump administration appealed the ruling almost immediately to the Supreme Court.
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From left: Members of the Supreme Court Members Associes Judge Amy Coney Barrett, Neil M. Gorsuch, Sonia Sotomayor, Clarence Stormus, Jr., Deputy Judge of Ketanji Brown Jackson, Samuel A. Alito, Junior Junior, Elena Kagan, and Brett Maudam-fan’s Kavanov Prize pose, in Washington, DC, September 30, 2022 (US Supreme Court Collection via Getty Images)
The lower court’s decision is the latest in a dizzying gust of court development that has upheld, blocked and once again supported the firing of two employees, coming after a D.C.-based federal judge issued an order blocking fire.
“Presidents who promote their image of themselves as “king” or “dictator” are fundamentally misconstruing their role under Article 2 of the US Constitution, perhaps as a vision of effective leadership,” wrote US district judge Beryl Howell, who oversaw Wilcox’s case, wrote in her opinion.
Similarly, U.S. District Judge Rudolf Contreras, who was the main side of Harris’ case, wrote that if the president “replaces the head of independent bodies from their position for the length of such cases, the independence of those officials will be crushed.”
In both opinions, Humphrey’s Enforcer vs. United States, a precedent for the Supreme Court in 1935, narrowed the President’s Constitution to reduce the President’s Constitution in favor of Wilcox and Harris’ recovery.
In February, Trump’s Justice Department wrote a letter to D-Ill Sen. Dick Durbin, who said it was trying to overturn the groundbreaking case.
“The department intends to urge the Supreme Court to dismiss that decision as long as Humphrey’s enforcers otherwise require it, preventing the President from enforcing the law on his behalf and properly overseeing the principal of the enforcement division, which has already been eroded by recent Supreme Court hearings,” wrote Sarah Harris’ representative.
In February, Trump’s Justice Department wrote a letter to Sen. Dick Durbin of D-Ill, saying it was trying to overturn the groundbreaking incident. (Getty Image)
The Trump administration appealed the order to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, allowing a three-judicator panel to control 2-1 in favor of the Trump administration, allowing the fire to proceed.
Wilcox and Harris, who have consolidated the cases, filed a motion for an Embunk hearing and requested that the whole bench be present in the Court of Appeal to hear the case again.
In a ruling issued on April 7, the DC Circuit voted to block the termination, reversing the holdings of previous appeals.
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Biden’s appointee Hampton Dillinger, who had previously tapped to lead the special advisor’s office, sued the Trump administration over his firing. (US Special Advisor/Distribution Material via Reuters)
The judges voted 7-4 votes to restore Wilcox and Harris’ posts.
The Harris and Wilcox case are several legal challenges that seek to clearly define the power of executives.
Biden’s appointee Hampton Dillinger, who had previously tapped to lead the special advisor’s office, sued the Trump administration over his firing. Dellinger filed a lawsuit in DC District Court after the February 7 shooting.
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He maintained the argument that by law, he could only be dismissed from his position on job performance issues that he had not been quoted in emails dismissing him from his post.
Dellinger dropped the lawsuit against the administration after the DC Court of Appeal issued a signature that had not been signed by the Trump administration.
Breanne Deppisch of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
Haley Chi-Sing is a political writer for Fox News Digital. You can contact her at X at @haleychising.
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