Trump can fire Democrat CPSC members: SCOTUS backs US president; overturns lower court order
In a 6–3 ruling on Wednesday, the US supreme court sided with president
Donald Trump
in a case concerning the removal of three Democratic members from the consumer product safety commission (CPSC).
The ruling allows Trump to go ahead with the dismissals, overturning earlier decisions from a federal judge and an appeals court that had reinstated the board members.
The three officials Mary Boyle, Alexander Hoehn-Saric, and Richard Trumka Jr, were removed from the CPSC by the Trump administration. They were later reinstated by US district judge Matthew Maddox, who ruled the firings unlawful. Maddox, a Biden appointee, said that the structure of the independent agency did not violate Trump's constitutional powers under Article II.
Trump's legal team challenged the ruling in the supreme court, arguing that the president had the authority to remove members of independent boards. The administration cited a recent decision involving other federal bodies the national labour relations board (NLRB) and the merit systems protection board (MSPB) to claim the precedent applied here too.
The three ousted members opposed the emergency appeal, pointing out that their sudden removal would harm the functioning of the CPSC and lacked any clear urgency, especially since the administration had waited four months to act.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from the ruling.
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