Democrats have been blocking President Trump's agenda at every turn.
They've weaponized the court system to try and stop him.
But the DC Circuit just handed Trump a massive victory that left Democrats fuming.
Trump scores major constitutional win over labor board firings
A federal appeals court delivered a crushing blow to Democrats who've been trying to tie President Trump's hands on personnel decisions.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 on Friday that Trump has the constitutional authority to fire members of the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board without showing cause.¹
The decision reverses lower court rulings that had temporarily reinstated NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox and MSPB member Cathy Harris after Trump fired them in January.
Both women are Biden appointees Democrats were desperate to protect.
Judges Gregory Katsas and Justin Walker — both Trump appointees to the D.C. Circuit — wrote the majority opinion citing the 2020 Supreme Court case Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.²
"Congress may not restrict the President's ability to remove principal officers who wield substantial executive power," the judges declared.²
The Supreme Court had already weighed in on the dispute back in May, temporarily allowing Trump to keep the two Democrats off the boards while the case proceeded through the courts.³
Now the D.C. Circuit has made it official — federal laws protecting these board members from firing violate the Constitution's separation of powers.
Trump wasted no time after returning to office in cleaning house at agencies that had become Democrat strongholds under Biden.
He fired Harris and Wilcox with brief emails that didn't cite any cause for removal — exactly what Democrats claimed was illegal.
The NLRB handles private-sector labor disputes while the MSPB decides appeals from federal employees who've been disciplined or fired.
Both boards have been paralyzed since Trump removed the two members, leaving them without enough people to make decisions on pending cases.⁴
Hundreds of cases are stacked up at the NLRB and thousands of appeals are waiting at the MSPB.⁴
Democrats panic as Trump expands presidential authority
Judge Florence Pan — a Biden appointee — wrote a panicked dissent warning that the ruling gives Trump dangerous powers.
"Today, my colleagues make us the first court to strike down the independence of a traditional multimember expert agency," Pan wrote.²
She claimed the decision means "no independent agencies may lawfully exist in this country" and grants Trump "dominion over approximately thirty-three previously independent agencies."²
That's exactly what Trump supporters have been pushing for — ending the so-called "fourth branch" of unelected bureaucrats who answer to no one.
For decades, these independent agencies have operated like their own little fiefdoms, making rules that affect millions of Americans without any real accountability to elected officials.
Congress created "for cause" removal protections claiming these agencies needed independence to function properly.
But Trump's legal team successfully argued those protections unconstitutionally restrict the President's Article II powers to control the executive branch.
This case is part of Trump's larger campaign to reassert presidential authority over the sprawling administrative state.
In February, Trump signed an executive order requiring all independent agencies — including heavyweights like the FTC, FCC, and SEC — to submit regulations for White House review.⁵
He's also fired inspectors general, board members, and other officials Democrats assumed had lifetime job protection.
The Trump administration's position is straightforward — if you wield executive power, the President controls your job.
Legal experts predict this case will eventually reach the Supreme Court for a final ruling on presidential removal authority.
But Trump's already notched a win where it counts — his two D.C. Circuit appointees gave him exactly the ruling his administration needed.
The conservative legal movement has been building toward this moment for years.
Justice Antonin Scalia laid the groundwork in his 1988 dissent in Morrison v. Olson, arguing that all executive power must flow through the President.⁶
Recent Supreme Court decisions have been moving in that direction, though the Court hasn't directly overruled the 1935 Humphrey's Executor case that blessed independent agencies.
Trump's aggressive personnel moves are forcing courts to finally confront these questions head-on.
And Friday's D.C. Circuit ruling shows Trump appointees are willing to push the constitutional envelope in his favor.
Democrats are freaking out because they know what comes next — if Trump wins this fight at the Supreme Court, he'll have the power to fire anyone heading an independent agency who won't implement his agenda.
That means the deep state bureaucrats who've been sabotaging conservative presidents for decades would finally face real consequences.
¹ Reuters, "U.S. court says Trump can remove Democrats from two federal labor boards," December 6, 2025.
² CNBC, "Trump can fire labor, employment board members without cause: Appeals court," December 6, 2025.
³ NPR, "Supreme Court allows Trump to fire members of independent agency boards — for now," May 22, 2025.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ The White House, "Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Reins in Independent Agencies to Restore a Government that Answers to the American People," February 18, 2025.
⁶ Carlton Fields, "Executive Order Making 'So-Called Independent Agencies' Directly Responsive to the President Is Another Nail in the Coffin of the 'Headless Fourth Branch of Government,'" February 2025.
