Supreme Court: President Can Fire Federal Executives Without Cause
Beth Brelje Visit on Twitter @BethBrelje
It seems logical that a president can root out people likely to work against him and appoint people who represent his agenda.
In a 6-3 split, the U.S. Supreme Court handed President Donald Trump a win Thursday, saying he can fire federal executives who exercise power on his behalf without cause.
Trump removed Gwynne Wilcox, who was a member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and Cathy Harris, who served on the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). Both women are Democrats appointed by former President Joe Biden.
It seems logical that a president can root out people likely to work against him and appoint people who represent his agenda.
But after Trump fired them, they went to court saying the president does not have the authority to remove them without cause and asked to be reinstated.
“Because the Constitution vests the executive power in the President … he may remove without cause executive officers who exercise that power on his behalf, subject to narrow exceptions recognized by our precedents,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote. But that is not the final word.
In future hearings, Trump is “Likely to show that both the NLRB and MSPB exercise considerable executive power,” Roberts wrote, “But we do not ultimately decide in this posture whether the NLRB or MSPB falls within such a recognized exception; that question is better left for resolution after full briefing and argument.”
The decision is also meant to prevent disgruntled appointees from having power.
“The Government faces greater risk of harm from an order allowing a removed officer to continue exercising the executive power than a wrongfully removed officer faces from being unable to perform her statutory duty,” Roberts wrote in his two-page decision.