Employment Law Report
Federal Judge Overturns President Trump’s Removal of NLRB Member
By: Lillie Stivers
On March 6, 2025, a Washington D.C. federal judge overturned Trump’s removal of National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) Member Gwynne Wilcox. President Trump removed the Democratic appointee from the Board on January 27, 2025, leaving the Board with only two sitting members — one short of its three-member quorum to hear cases. Wilcox filed a lawsuit challenging her removal as violative of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”), which requires notice, a hearing, and cause before a member can be removed by the president.
In oral arguments, the Trump administration admitted that the removal of Wilcox violated the NLRA. However, Trump argued that the NLRA’s removal requirements are an unconstitutional restraint on the president’s power to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed” under Article II of the Constitution. This stance challenges a 90-year-old Supreme Court precedent set forth in Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 591 U.S. 197 (2020) and Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, 295 U.S. 602 (1935) that affirms Congress’s power to limit the president’s ability to remove officers of administrative agencies created by Congress.
The Washington D.C. federal judge upheld the constitutionality of the NLRA, rejecting the government’s argument that the NLRA’s checks amounted to an “extraordinary intrusion” on executive power. This ruling reinstated Wilcox and restored the Board’s quorum. As for the Trump administration, it will likely seek to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court in an attempt to overturn precedent on the president’s power over administrative agencies.
