Power Grab/Fire anyone who can stop him
The Supreme Court votes 6-3 to let Trump keep fired NLRB and MSPB members out of their jobs
The May 22, 2025 emergency order stayed court-ordered reinstatements of Gwynne Wilcox and Cathy Harris, who had been fired without the cause their statutes require.
What happened
On May 22, 2025, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 to stay lower-court orders reinstating NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox and MSPB member Cathy Harris, whom Trump had fired without the cause their statutes require. Federal law bars removing members of either board except for neglect of duty or malfeasance. Both had years left on their terms.
The unsigned order said the government was likely to show that both boards exercise considerable executive power, and carved out the Federal Reserve as a uniquely structured entity. It left for full briefing whether Humphrey’s Executor protects the boards.
Justice Kagan, joined by Justices Sotomayor and Jackson, dissented, saying the order favored the president over 90 years of precedent. She wrote that the Court had let the president overrule Humphrey’s Executor on the emergency docket, without briefing or argument.
Who benefited
Trump gained effective at-will control over two boards that adjudicate labor disputes and federal employees’ appeals. By implication that reaches the FTC, FCC and other commissions whose independence rests on the same precedent. The order arrived as the MSPB was hearing thousands of appeals from fired federal workers.
Who wanted something
The Solicitor General’s office had told Congress in February 2025 that the administration would no longer defend for-cause removal protections. White House lawyers selected the NLRB and MSPB firings as the vehicle. A win removes a century-old limit on presidential control of the administrative state.
Who lost out
Workers with unfair-labor-practice complaints and federal employees contesting their dismissals now face adjudicators who serve at the president’s pleasure. Wilcox and Harris lost their seats, and Congress lost its design for bipartisan expert boards that the statutes protect.
Why it matters
Before any merits decision, the Court signaled it was prepared to end independent agencies for most of the government while shielding the Fed. Those agencies exist so that decisions about unions, elections, broadcasting and markets are not made by officials who can be fired for displeasing the president.