A federal judge ruled Wednesday that President Trump’s firing of the head of a board that resolves disputes between federal employees and the government was unlawful.
U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan’s ruling in favor of Susan Grundmann, the Democratic-appointed chair of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), is the latest to push back on Trump’s efforts to consolidate control over independent agencies in an expanded view of presidential power.
“The Government’s arguments paint with a broad brush and threaten to upend fundamental protections in our Constitution. But ours is not an autocracy; it is a system of checks and balances,” wrote Sooknanan.
Federal law protects FLRA members like Grundmann from termination without cause. The White House did not purport to have cause when it fired Grundmann in a two-sentence email last month and instead, like it has in other cases, contended the removal protections are unconstitutional.
Sooknanan rejected that argument under longstanding Supreme Court precedent, effectively reinstating Grundmann for the rest of her term unless an appeals court overturns the ruling.
“A straightforward reading of Supreme Court precedent thus resolves the merits of this case,” the judge, an appointee of former President Biden, wrote.
Legal experts believe the case could ultimately be destined for the high court, which would have authority to overturn its own precedent. Some of the court’s conservatives have signaled a willingness to do so.
Wednesday’s ruling comes after a separate district judge previously reinstated Gwynne Wilcox, the chair of the National Labor Relations Board, which oversees disputes between non-federal employees and their employers. Another judge similarly returned Merit Systems Protection Board Chair Cathy Harris to her post.
The independent agency firing lawsuit that was the furthest along, a case brought by former U.S. Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger, abruptly ended after Dellinger dropped his legal challenge upon an appeals court greenlighting his termination.
“Another illegal action by the Trump administration has been struck down. This is an important win for the American people,” Norm Eisen, an attorney who represents Grundmann and has long fought Trump in court, said in a statement.
Sooknanan’s ruling also addressed the recent hearing in the case, when the Justice Department contended that the courts do not have the authority to enter injunctive relief reinstating Grundmann and is limited to awarding backpay. The judge had questioned whether the government’s representation was that if she determined the president encroached on Congress’s authority, she has no recourse.
“That is the government’s position,” said DOJ lawyer Alexander Resar.
In her ruling, the judge emphasized the case was “far from mere claim of lost employment” and instead “a case of constitutional significance.”
“A check in the mail does not address the gravamen of this lawsuit. Perhaps that is why Ms. Grundmann has not even asked for one,” Sooknanan wrote.