BALTIMORE — The United States Supreme Court again reaffirmed President Trump's authority to fire independent federal board members who exercise powers appointed to them by the nation's chief executive.
On Wednesday the conservative 6-3 majority of justices overturned Maryland Judge Matthew J. Maddox, who previously ruled Trump's firing of three Democratic members of the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission was unconstitutional.
Maddox opined the terminated trio of Mary Boyle, Alexander Hoehn-Saric, and Richard Trumka Jr. could only be dismissed for "neglect of duty or malfeasance in office but for no other cause.”
The Joe Biden appointed judge cited a 1935 Supreme Court case known as Humphrey’s Executor, which limits a sitting President's power to remove certain government board members.
While the Supreme Court hasn't officially overhauled Humphrey’s Executor, Justice Brett Kavanaugh indicated that decision could be coming.
"When the question is whether to narrow or overrule one of this Court’s precedents rather than how to resolve an open or disputed question of federal law, further percolation in the lower courts is not particularly useful because lower courts cannot alter or overrule this Court’s precedents," Kavanaugh concurred.
The Supreme Court also recently upheld Trump's firing of National Labor Relations and Merit Systems Protection Board Members, Gwynne Wilcox and Cathy Harris, another hint of what could be on the horizon.
