CNN
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The chairwoman of a critical agency that reviews federal employee firings can stay on the job, a judge ruled Tuesday, formally reversing President Donald Trump’s “unlawful” decision to fire her.
District Judge Rudolph Contreras handed a major victory to Cathy Harris, chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board, an independent agency that has the power to review and reverse federal employee firings. The little-known board has taken on new importance as Trump initiates mass government layoffs, leading to thousands of firings, and more on the way.
The judge ruled that Harris can remain on the board for the rest of her term, which expires in 2028, unless she is fired for cause, as specified by the statute that established the MSPB. Trump administration officials didn’t cite any cause when they attempted to fire her in early February.
“The President thus lacks the power to remove Harris from office at will. Because the President did not indicate that he sought to remove Harris for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office, his attempt to terminate her was unlawful and exceeded the scope of his authority,” Contreras wrote Tuesday in a 35-page ruling.
The Justice Department immediately appealed the decision, calling it “an extraordinary intrusion into the President’s authority.” The next stop is the DC US Circuit Court of Appeals, and after that, the Supreme Court. This is one of a few ongoing cases where the Trump administration is fighting in court for the right to fire agency heads, including other internal watchdogs that protect federal workers from partisan abuses.
Everyone involved in the case has alluded to the expected appeal all the way to the Supreme Court. At Monday’s hearing, the judge quipped, “That’s where all of us are headed.”
Harris is a Democrat who was appointed by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate. She has said she wants to remain at the MSPB to help deal with the avalanche of claims as Trump lays off thousands of federal workers.
The decision to keep Harris at her post is a boost to the agency. Without her, the MSPB would lose a quorum, hampering its ability to process new cases and issue final rulings on cases. One member of the three-person board retired Friday when his statutory term expired.
At a court hearing Monday, Harris’ lawyers argued that the Justice Department was pushing a “breathtaking” legal theory that would “fundamentally erode separation of powers,” by ignoring generations of precedent and letting Trump fire senior officials that are supposed to have some additional protections.
“You are not powerless,” Harris’ lawyer Nathaniel Zelinsky told Contreras.
Justice Department lawyer Jeremy Newman said some recent Supreme Court rulings broadened presidential authority over Executive Branch officials, and that presidents are supposed to be the ones who hold agency leaders accountable.
“Without such power … the buck stops with someone else,” Newman said.
In a filing Tuesday afternoon, Newman asked Contreras to pause his sweeping reinstatement order while the case is appealed.
“As a result of the Court’s order, a person the President has chosen to remove from office is exercising executive power over the President’s objection, a harm that is transparently irreparable,” the Justice Department wrote.
Harris said in a statement after the ruling that she was “gratified” by the resounding victory at this stage of the proceedings.
“All I want to do is do the job the United States Congress asked me to do,” Harris said. “And I’m glad the Court has ruled on just how illegal Donald Trump’s action here has been. I am prepared to go all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States to vindicate our constitutional principles.”
This story has been updated with additional developments.
