Judge reminds Trump he's not king in ruling reversing firing of labor board member Gwynne Wilcox
Washington DC - A federal judge has ordered the reinstatement of Gwynne Wilcox to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) after she was fired by Donald Trump.
Trump abruptly fired Wilcox, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, along with the agency's general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo in the early days of his second presidency.
Wilcox's term was not set to expire until 2028. Her dismissal left the NRLB without the quorum needed to decide cases.
"To start, the Framers [of the Constitution] made clear that no one in our system of government was meant to be king – the President included – and not just in name only," Judge Beryl Howell wrote in her 36-page ruling.
"The President does not have the authority to terminate members of the National Labor Relations Board at will, and his attempt to fire plaintiff from her position on the Board was a blatant violation of the law."
Wilcox filed suit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia last month, arguing her firing was a violation of the National Labor Relations Act. The law stipulates that NLRB members may only be removed for negligence or misconduct, and only after a hearing.
"The president seems intent on pushing the bounds of his office and exercising his power in a manner violative of clear statutory law to test how much the courts will accept the notion of a presidency that is supreme," Howell warned.
"The courts are now again forced to determine how much encroachment on the legislature our Constitution can bear and face a slippery slope toward endorsing a presidency that is untouchable by the law."
Labor groups and allies celebrate Gwynne Wilcox's reinstatement
Labor groups and allies have hailed the ruling on Wilcox's lawsuit as a victory for working people.
"We commend the court’s decision to uphold the integrity and independence of the NLRB, an agency that upholds workers' freedom to form a union," AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement Thursday.
"Working people around the country count on equal justice and fair decision-making from an independent NLRB – and today, because of Wilcox's commitment to the mission of the NLRB and her refusal to stand by as Trump illegally removed her from the board, the NLRB can get back to work."
Upon reintroducing the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act one day prior, Senator Bernie Sanders told a news conference, "Supporting the immediate reinstatement of Member Wilcox and the swift passage of the PRO Act would be major steps toward building real worker power."
The AFL-CIO held a rally in support of Wilcox outside the federal courthouse on Wednesday, as participants raised signs with slogans like "Workers Need the NLRB" and "We Need a Quorum."
The Trump administration has already moved to appeal Howell's ruling.
Cover photo: Screenshot/Facebook/AFL-CIO