Federal district court judge reinstates Trump terminated labor board member – likely setting stage for Supreme Court showdown

On March 6, 2025, federal district court Judge Beryl A. Howell issued an injunction reinstating former Democratic-appointee labor board member Gwynne A. Wilcox, who was terminated by President Trump via email on Jan. 27, 2025. The full court opinion can be found here. 

The Trump administration immediately appealed the lower court’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. However, absent the issuance of a stay by the appellate court, board member Wilcox will return to the National Labor Relations Board, providing the board with the necessary three-person quorum to resume adjudicating cases before the NLRB.

By way of background, labor board member Wilcox, had been reappointed by former President Biden to serve a second five-year term on the five-member labor board back in 2023. The Senate confirmed Wilcox for this second term in September 2023. Upon assuming office, President Trump terminated Wilcox on Jan. 27, 2025 via email at around 11:00 p.m. EST, providing no cause for the decision, but rather stating, in part, that, “[Wilcox] does not share the objectives of the President’s administration.”

The decision here is the latest in a series of challenges made by terminated executive branch employees – such as Wilcox – in testing the authority of the President under Article II of the Constitution to terminate such employees at-will, which is the position the Trump administration has taken. Judge Howell framed the constitutional question as follows: “At issue in this case, is the President’s insistence that he has the authority to fire whomever he wants within the Executive branch, overriding any congressionally mandated law in his way.”

Judge Howell went on to hold that President Trump’s position is not supported by either the text of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) or the longline of precedent concerning the standard to terminate executive branch employees, stating that the President’s at-will termination of Wilcox here was a “blatant violation of the law,” and that board member Wilcox can only be removed by the President “upon notice and hearing, for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office, but for no other cause.”

This lower court’s decision concerning Wilcox is simply another on the path to the United States Supreme Court, where the high court’s 1935 decision of Humphrey’s Executor v. United States will be tested for its continued viability in protecting executive branch employees from the President’s unfettered authority to terminate them at-will. In Humphrey, heavily relied upon by Board Member Wilcox in her recent challenge against the Trump Administration, the Supreme Court stated that commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) did enjoy “for cause” employment protections when considering the balance of power between Congress to create such commissions, like the FTC in Humphrey or the NLRB in the current Wilcox case, and the President’s authority over the executive branch. 

For now, board member Wilcox is re-employed and the NLRB can resume its operations, having the minimum three-member quorum needed to render decisions. However, this battle is far from over and, as discussed above, is likely headed to the United States Supreme Court for a potentially historical reframing of the extent of the President’s authority over all executive branch employees.