logo
Top federal labor officials reinstated by full DC federal appeals court

Top federal labor officials reinstated by full DC federal appeals court

Yahoo07-04-2025
Two former top federal labor protection officials were reinstated to their posts Monday by the full DC Circuit Court of Appeals – at least for now – amid a lengthy legal dispute over President Donald Trump's ability to fire leaders from independent government agencies.
In a 7-4 decision, the full appeals court wiped away a previous ruling from a three-judge panel that allowed Trump to fire the officials: Cathy Harris, the chairwoman of the Merit Systems Protection Board, which reviews federal firings and can reinstate wrongly terminated employees, and Gwynne Wilcox, a member of the National Labor Relations Board.
With these two officials returning to their posts, a quorum has now been restored at the NLRB and MSPB, allowing them to function at full strength and process cases involving federal employment disputes. These agencies are a critical bulwark against Trump's efforts to rapidly reduce the size of the federal workforce and fire thousands of employees.
Both officials are Democrats appointed by former President Joe Biden whose statutory terms weren't set to expire for years. Federal law says they can only be dismissed for cause, but Trump is trying to fire them anyway, and the Justice Department has argued that it's unconstitutional to restrain the president's firing powers.
This is not the final say in the matter, which many legal observers believe is eventually headed to the Supreme Court.
The full DC Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday wiped away an emergency order from the three-judge panel letting Trump fire the officials while the appeals play out. But a smaller three-judge panel is still set to review the underlying merits of the case, and a hearing is scheduled for May 16.
'The Supreme Court has repeatedly told the courts of appeals to follow extant Supreme Court precedent unless and until that Court itself changes it or overturns it,' the DC Circuit majority wrote in its ruling Monday.
Previous Supreme Court rulings about presidential firing powers, which the Trump administration wants to overturn, 'remain good law' and are still 'in place,' the judges wrote, citing earlier cases.
All seven of the DC Circuit judges who supported reinstating the labor officials were appointed by Democratic presidents, and the four dissenting judges who opposed it were appointed by Republicans.
CNN has reached out to the MSPB and NLRB for comment.
Both women challenged their firings in court, and trial judges concluded that their terminations were unlawful. The Justice Department then appealed those decisions and later secured a court order letting Trump fire the officials on a temporary basis while the appealed played out. That temporary order was vacated Monday, reinstating the officials.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Trump Slams Musk Plan for Rival Political Party as Feud Deepens
Trump Slams Musk Plan for Rival Political Party as Feud Deepens

Bloomberg

time11 minutes ago

  • Bloomberg

Trump Slams Musk Plan for Rival Political Party as Feud Deepens

President Donald Trump blasted Elon Musk's bid to start a new political party, as the intensifying feud between the former allies deepens concerns among investors over the implications for Tesla Inc. and other companies helmed by the world's richest man. 'Third parties have never worked, so he can have fun with it, but I think it's ridiculous,' Trump told reporters on Sunday. The US has 'always been a two-party system,' he added.

Trump Threatens 10% Tariff for ‘Anti-American' BRICS Alignment
Trump Threatens 10% Tariff for ‘Anti-American' BRICS Alignment

Bloomberg

time11 minutes ago

  • Bloomberg

Trump Threatens 10% Tariff for ‘Anti-American' BRICS Alignment

President Donald Trump said he would put an additional 10% tariff on any country aligning themselves with 'the Anti-American policies of BRICS,' injecting further uncertainty into global trade as the US continues to negotiate levies with many trading partners. 'Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff,' Trump said Sunday night in a Truth Social post. 'There will be no exceptions to this policy.'

Asian markets drop as Trump's tariff deadline looms
Asian markets drop as Trump's tariff deadline looms

Yahoo

time13 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Asian markets drop as Trump's tariff deadline looms

Most Asian markets fell Monday as countries fought to hammer out trade deals days before Donald Trump's tariff deadline, though investors took heart after he said the levies would not kick in until the start of next month. While the White House has said several deals were in the pipeline, only two have been finalised ahead of the July 9 cut-off set by the US president. Governments from major trading partners including Japan, India, the European Union and South Korea have fought for the past three months to get agreements. But Trump said he will send his first tariff letters at 1600 GMT Monday, setting out what Washington will charge for doing business with the United States. He said an extra 10 percent would be added to any country "aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS", an 11-member alliance including Brazil, Russia, India and China. The announcement came after leaders of the group warned Trump's "indiscriminate" import tariffs risked hurting the global economy. The deadline for a deal is Wednesday, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed on Sunday that the measures would not be applied until August 1. "It's not a new deadline. We are saying, this is when it's happening. If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that's your choice," Bessent told CNN. He said the rates will then "boomerang back" to the sometimes very high levels Trump announced on April 2, before the president suspended the levies to allow for trade talks. "I would expect to see several big announcements over the next couple of days," Bessent said. The president told reporters Sunday on Air Force One that "I think we'll have most countries done by July 9, either a letter or a deal", adding that some deals have already been made. Tariff uncertainty weighed on equity markets, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Wellington and Taipei all down, though there were small gains in Singapore, Seoul, Manila and Jakarta. Wall Street was closed Friday for a holiday. "Whether deadlines get extended remains uncertain given Trump's unpredictable style," said IG market analyst Fabien Yip. "Our base case expects several important trade partners to agree on a high-level basis before the deadline. "This would provide more time for detailed discussions over the following two months. The other risk factor is sector-specific tariffs covering semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and materials may also be announced in due course." Oil prices sank after Saudi Arabia, Russia and other major producers in the OPEC+ alliance said they would boost output far more than expected in August, fuelling demand worries just as Trump's tariffs are about to begin. The group said "a steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories" led to the decision to further hike output. - Key figures at around 0230 GMT - Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.5 percent at 39,628.41 (break) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 23,842.39 Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,467.81 West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.8 percent at $65.81 per barrel Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.0 percent at $67.61 per barrel Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1773 from $1.1783 on Friday Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3634 from $1.3641 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 144.51 yen from 144.53 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.34 pence from 86.37 pence New York: Closed for a public holiday London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 8,822.91 (close) dan/rsc Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store