Overview

• The Supreme Court granted the Trump administration's request to maintain the removal of two Democratic members from the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board during ongoing litigation.
• U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton ruled that President Trump unlawfully fired two Democratic members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), reinstating them until further appellate decisions.
• Judge Walton determined that the PCLOB's role in overseeing counterterrorism policies requires independence incompatible with at-will presidential removals.
• The Justice Department plans to appeal Walton's ruling, while the reinstated PCLOB members will remain in their roles unless a higher court overturns the decision.
• The broader legal battle over the president's authority to remove independent agency members could challenge the longstanding Humphrey’s Executor precedent and reshape federal agency governance.