Washington — The Justice Department petitioned the Supreme Court on Wednesday to intervene against lower court rulings that invalidated President Trump’s dismissals of a member from the National Labor Relations Board and a member from the Merit Systems Protection Board as legal challenges regarding the terminations proceed.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer, in an urgent appeal to the high court, indicated that the district court’s orders that reinstated Cathy Harris to her position on the Merit Systems Protection Board and Gwynne Wilcox to the National Labor Relations Board adversely affect the president and the distribution of power among branches of government.
Sauer urged the Supreme Court to stay the district court’s rulings that deemed the removals invalid and suggested that the justices might consider the case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit renders a decision.
He asserted, “The president should not be compelled to cede his executive authority to agency leaders whose goals are clearly contrary to the administration’s policy objectives, even for a single day — let alone the months it may take for the courts to resolve this case.”
This appeal for the Supreme Court’s intervention arises amidst a surge in emergency relief petitions from the Trump administration. Over 150 lawsuits challenging Trump’s second-term agenda have been filed across the nation and are making their way through the federal court system.
