Overview

• The U.S. Supreme Court granted emergency relief to the Trump administration, blocking lower court rulings that reinstated Cathy Harris and Gwynne Wilcox to their federal agency posts.
• Harris, formerly of the Merit Systems Protection Board, and Wilcox, of the National Labor Relations Board, were removed by Trump earlier this year despite statutory protections requiring cause for dismissal.
• The 6-3 decision, with the Court's conservative majority in favor, keeps the officials out of their roles while broader constitutional questions about presidential removal powers are litigated.
• Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that Article II of the Constitution grants the president broad authority to remove members of independent agencies exercising executive power.
• Critics warn that weakening for-cause removal protections could undermine the independence of key federal agencies, including the Federal Reserve and National Transportation Safety Board.