A federal judge ordered a fired Merit Systems Protection Board member reinstated Tuesday, teeing up a Supreme Court fight over the existence of independent agencies. Judge Rudolph Contreras, an Obama appointee, ordered President Trump to temporarily reinstate a Biden appointee to the Merit Systems Protection Board, an independent agency that adjudicates employment disputes involving civil service employees. “The Court concludes that Harris has established a strong likelihood of success on the merits, that irreparable harm is likely to occur in the absence of injunctive relief and that the public interest weighs in favor of enjoining Defendants’ actions,” opined Contreras. “Harris has thus carried her burden to establish that a temporary restraining order is warranted here.”
MSPB judges can be fired “only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” Cathy Harris, appointed by Joe Biden (or someone acting in his name) to a seven-year term on June 1, 2022. On February 10, 2025, she received an email from President Trump saying, “On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position on the Merit Systems Protection Board is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service.”
Harris vs. Bessent by streiff on Scribd
Judge Contreras relied on a very shaky 1935 precedent called Humphrey’s Executor v. United States. This precedent established the, in my view, unconstitutional and un-republican plethora of “independent” boards and commissions that carry out executive functions but aren’t answerable to the guy in whom the “executive Power” of the United States is “vested.” Recent cases have held that any commission holding anything other than an advisory capacity must be controlled by the President; how the MSPB’s role in adjudicating employment disputes will be viewed is unknown.
This case is headed to the DC Circuit and the Supreme Court. Another similar case, that of Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger, is at the Supreme Court; Trump Sends Scorching Appeal of DC Court Order Reinstating Biden Appointee to the Supreme Court – RedState. In that case, Trump fired Dellinger, who had the same legal protections as MSPB judges. A judge ordered Dellinger reinstated, and the Supreme Court will get Dellinger’s response to the government’s objections at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Other possible cases testing the limits of Humphrey’s Executor are the firings of 17 IGs, who, by statute, can only be fired after a 30-day notice to Congress and an explanation of the reasons, and a member of the National Labor Relations Board.
