A D.C. federal appeals court on Friday handed the Trump administration a temporary victory, overturning district court rulings that ordered the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) Gwynne Wilcox and the Merit Systems Protection Board’s Cathy Harris to be reinstated.
Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ordered NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox to be reinstated after her dismissal by President Donald Trump earlier this year.
Friday’s ruling halts both reinstatements while the case proceeds.
President Trump and Cathy Harris (Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images; U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, right. )
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Wilcox filed a lawsuit Feb. 5 in D.C. federal court, claiming her Jan. 27 firing violated the congressional statute outlining NLRB appointments and removals.
Trump told Wilcox in a letter she was being fired because the NLRB had not “been operating in a manner consistent with the objectives of [his] administration.”
He also cited multiple recent board decisions, claiming Wilcox was “unduly disfavoring the interests of employers.”
On Feb. 10, Wilcox requested a summary judgment on an expedited basis, and, after a hearing on March 5, the district court ruled she could remain a member of the NLRB.
President Trump fired National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox, left, who told U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, right, that the president does not have the legal authority to do so. (NLRB; AP Photo; U.S. District Court)
In a similar suit, Harris, a Democrat who led the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), argued Trump did not have the authority to terminate her Feb. 10 and that he did not provide a reason for the firing.
However, unlike Wilcox, she did not receive a letter from the president, according to court documents.
She sued Feb. 11, and a district court later granted her a temporary restraining order, reinstating her to the MSPB.
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