Members of the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board were "unfired" on Monday after a federal appeals court reversed itself.

Regarding the legal technicalities, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia originally sided with the Trump administration on a 2-1 vote in late March. The case was then deemed important enough to warrant an en banc review, meaning the entire slate of judges heard the case. That has now led to a 7-4 decision against the administration. 

SEE: Trump Scores Big Judicial Win on NLRB and MSPB firings

BREAKING: The federal appeals court in DC has *unfired* members of the NLRB and MSPB that Donald Trump has been trying to remove despite laws protecting them from removal without cause.

Panel was divided 7-4.

Supreme Court could be next. Details TKhttps://t.co/HpyDJWbdhZ pic.twitter.com/SGl5UX9cp0

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) April 7, 2025

In its decision, the court essentially argues that it is bound by Supreme Court precedent on protections for members of government adjudicatory boards. That's based on Humphrey's Executor vs. United States and Weiner vs. United States, where the high court upheld removal restrictions on board members while ending them for other executive appointments such as agency heads. 

The good news is the Supreme Court, which has a much different makeup than it did in 1935 and 1958, has several conservatives who appear to be very skeptical of stripping the executive of its power to manage the executive branch. There is a decent enough shot that a current majority will boot this precedent out the window and put a stop to lower courts essentially deciding who can and can't be fired within the executive branch. 

With that said, to a layman, all this seems like silly legal maneuvering that shouldn't be necessary. Why should the federal government have regulatory boards with such sweeping powers that aren't subject to the people elected by American voters? What is democratic about that, and how can you check corruption if you have government officials who are, for all intents and purposes, untouchable? Any provision that allows a former president to tie the hands of a future president like that feels like a violation of the spirit of the executive branch as imagined by the Founders.

We'll see where this goes. There's little doubt the Trump administration will continue to push this up the food chain. It's just a matter of how urgently the Supreme Court wants to treat this and other cases involving executive power.

Of course, there is another, perhaps far more effective way to settle this. Congress could simply pass laws that remove these restrictions. What do you think the chances of that are, though?

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