A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that President Donald Trump "lacks the power" to fire the chairwoman of a board that reviews federal employee dismissals without cause and ordered that she be reinstated to her post.
District Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled in favor of Cathy Harris, the chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board, ordering that she may remain on the agency's board until her term expires in 2028 unless she is fired "for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office."
The Trump administration did not cite any cause when attempting to fire Harris from her position last month.
"The president thus lacks the power to remove Harris from office at will. Because the president did not indicate that he sought to remove Harris for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office, his attempt to terminate her was unlawful and exceeded the scope of his authority," reads the judge's ruling.
CNN notes that the Justice Department will likely appeal the ruling, which could eventually lead to the case appearing before the U.S. Supreme Court.
A Justice Department attorney, Jeremy S.B. Newman, argued in court on Monday that Trump has the authority to fire officials such as Harris and other executive agency heads, but an attorney representing Harris, Nathaniel Zelinsky, described the government's legal argument as "dead wrong" and "breathtaking," saying this would allow the president to fire "anyone who exercises an ounce of executive authority," even at independent agencies.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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