The courts have been busy Wednesday — we've seen all sorts of rulings, from the (non)release of Jeffrey Epstein grand jury transcripts to Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and then some.
READ MORE: Federal Judges Rule on Efforts to Unseal Epstein Grand Jury Testimony
Maryland Judge Blocks ICE Arrest of 'Maryland Man' Kilmar Abrego Garcia - but There's an Added Twist
Not to be outdone, the Supreme Court has also entered the chat and issued another ruling on its emergency docket. In a 6-3 decision, the court has granted the Trump administration's application for stay in a case involving Consumer Product Safety Commission appointees.
BREAKING: Supreme Court GRANTS Trump’s emergency appeal booting Dem appointees from the Consumer Product Safety Commission
— Kelsey Reichmann (@KelseyReichmann) July 23, 2025
Apparent 6-3 ruling with the liberals in dissent
This follows a prior grant allowing Trump to remove labor regulators (Trump v. Wilcox)@CourthouseNews pic.twitter.com/pPOhwErvwH
In a case quite similar to Trump v. Wilcox, which the court ruled on in April, the court issued a stay of Maryland District Court Judge Matthew Maddox's June order granting plaintiffs Mary Boyle, Alexander Hoehn-Saric, and Richard Trumka Jr.'s motion for summary judgment and ordering their reinstatement to their roles as members of the CPSC. In so doing, the court noted:
The stay we issued in Wilcox reflected “our judgment that the Government faces greater risk of harm from an order allowing a removed officer to continue exercising the executive power than a wrongfully removed officer faces from being unable to perform her statutory duty.” Ibid. (slip op., at 1). The same is true on the facts presented here, where the Consumer Product Safety Commission exercises executive power in a similar manner as the National Labor Relations Board, and the case does not otherwise differ from Wilcox in any pertinent respect.
The court's order was Per Curiam (i.e., unsigned), but Justice Brett Kavanaugh penned a concurrence noting, "In addition to granting a stay, I would have granted certiorari before judgment in this case or in Wilcox."
Kavanaugh further elaborated (and, referring to the expectation by many that when the merits are finally reached by the court, it will likely overturn Humphrey's Executor, the landmark 1935 case upon which many of the plaintiffs in these agency leader removal cases are hanging their hats, gives a right nod to the issues we're seeing unfold in "confused" lower courts):
When an emergency application turns on whether this Court will narrow or overrule a precedent, and there is at least a fair prospect (not certainty, but at least some reasonable prospect) that we will do so, the better practice often may be to both grant a stay and grant certiorari before judgment. In those unusual circumstances, if we grant a stay but do not also grant certiorari before judgment, we may leave the lower courts and affected parties with extended uncertainty and confusion about the status of the precedent in question. Moreover, when the question is whether to narrow or overrule one of this Court’s precedents rather than how to resolve an open or disputed question of federal law, further percolation in the lower courts is not particularly useful because lower courts cannot alter or overrule this Court’s precedents. In that situation, the downsides of delay in definitively resolving the status of the precedent sometimes tend to outweigh the benefits of further lower-court consideration.
So it is here. Therefore, I not only would have granted a stay but also would have granted certiorari before judgment.
Nailed it!
In a totally unsurprising turn of events, Justice Elena Kagan filed a dissent, in which Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson joined.
We will, of course, continue to follow the developments in this case (and the many, many others), and provide updates as warranted.
Editor's Note: Unelected federal judges are hijacking President Trump's agenda and insulting the will of the people
Help us expose out-of-control judges dead set on halting President Trump's mandate for change. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member