U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell has ruled that Gwynne Wilcox, a Democratic member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) who was dismissed by President Donald Trump in January 2025, must be reinstated. This decision marks a significant limitation on the power of the president over independent agencies.
In her ruling on Thursday, Judge Howell stated that Trump’s termination of Wilcox was “unlawful” and “therefore null and void.” Wilcox, the first Black woman to serve on the NLRB, was appointed by former President Joe Biden and her term was set to run through August 2028.
Judge Howell wrote in her opinion, “The President’s interpretation of the scope of his constitutional power – or, more aptly, his aspiration – is flat wrong.” She continued, “The President does not have the authority to terminate members of the National Labor Relations Board at will, and his attempt to fire plaintiff from her position on the Board was a blatant violation of the law.”
Wilcox’s dismissal in January left the NLRB without a quorum, effectively suspending the agency responsible for enforcing collective-bargaining law and protecting worker’s rights to unionize. With only two members left on the five-member board, the NLRB was unable to make decisions.
Lawyers for the administration argued that members of the NLRB should be “removable at will to ensure democratic accountability.” However, the National Labor Relations Act stipulates that board members may only be removed for “neglect of duty” or “malfeasance,” and only after receiving “notice and hearing.” Judge Howell noted that no president had previously attempted to remove a member of the NLRB.
In her detailed opinion, Howell questioned Trump’s understanding of presidential powers. She cited a February 15 post by Trump on X where he said, “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”
“A President who touts an image of himself as a ‘king’ or a ‘dictator,’ perhaps as his vision of effective leadership, fundamentally misapprehends the role under Article II of the U.S. Constitution,” Howell wrote.
After her dismissal in January, Wilcox filed a lawsuit seeking reinstatement. She stated, “When Congress established the National Labor Relations Board almost 90 years ago, it made sure that the law would protect its independence from political influence. My removal, without cause or process, directly violates that law.”
The judge’s decision is partly based on a 90-year-old Supreme Court precedent, Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, which restricts the president’s power to dismiss officials from independent, quasi-judicial bodies. The Court ruled in this 1935 case that the president’s power to remove officials from independent regulatory agencies is limited and that they can only be dismissed for causes specified by Congress.
The Trump administration has swiftly appealed the ruling, setting up a potential Supreme Court clash over executive power. This case is one of several recent court decisions that found Trump unlawfully dismissed Senate-confirmed members of independent agencies, including officials from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Federal Election Commission.
Former NLRB member Wilma Liebman told HuffPost that Trump’s dismissal of Wilcox was “shocking” and threatened the NLRB’s role as an independent enforcer of the law. Liebman stated, “It has the intent, I suppose, of trying to transform a neutral, objective, adjudicatory body into Trump’s henchmen. To me, it seems that the obvious first intent is to create chaos and make the agency inoperative.”
This ruling comes as the Trump administration attempts to assert extensive executive control over independent agencies, including removing inspectors general and ordering a White House review of regulations issued by independent agencies.
Legal scholars suggest that the Supreme Court’s conservative majority may be open to the argument that the president should have wider authority over independent agencies. The Court could potentially revisit and narrow or overturn the Humphrey’s Executor precedent.
However, Judge Howell made it clear that until the Supreme Court changes existing law, current precedent supports Wilcox’s reinstatement. The judge’s decision restores the NLRB’s three-member quorum, enabling the agency to resume its duty to protect workers’ rights to unionize and collectively bargain.
The resolution of the appeals process could potentially reshape the relationship between the executive branch and independent regulatory agencies for the foreseeable future.