A federal judge blocked the termination of three Democrats on the Consumer Product Safety Commission after being fired by President Trump in an effort to assert more power over independent federal agencies.
The committee will help protect consumers from dangerous products, such as issuing recalls and suing false companies. Trump announced his decision last month to fire three Democrats on a five-person committee. They served a seven-year term after being nominated for President Biden.
Commissioners who were fired after suing the Trump administration last month were sentenced in their favour on Friday. That would likely be appealed.
The plaintiff’s lawyers argued that the case was clear. Federal law says the president can fire a committee member “for a failure to do so in his duties or misconduct” and for other causes” — allegations not made against the committee member in question.
But the law is unconstitutional, as the president’s powers are extended to dismissing federal employees who “execute important executive powers,” Trump administration lawyers argue that the law is unconstitutional, according to court filings.
US District Judge Matthew Maddox agreed with the plaintiff and declared his dismissal illegal.
He had previously rejected requests for temporary restraining orders, which would have tentatively resurrected them. That decision comes days after the conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court refused to revive board members of the other two independent bodies. The court said the constitution appears to give the president the power to fire board members “without reason.” The three liberal justice challenged.
In his written opinion, filed Friday, Maddox offered a more limited view of the president’s authority and felt that the law prohibiting such dismissals “has no constitutional flaws.” He ordered the plaintiffs to be permitted to resume their duties as the Product Safety Board.
The ruling adds to a bigger, continuing legal battle over the 90-year-old Supreme Court decision known as Humphrey’s enforcer. In that case, from 1935, the court unanimously ruled that the president could not fire an independent board member without reason. The decision marked the age of strong independent federal agencies responsible for regulating labor relations, employment discrimination, and broadcast waves. However, conservative legal theorists who argue that modern administrative states misconduct the constitution all the time have long been ranked.
At last week’s pre-Maddox hearing, we focused primarily on the nature of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and its authority, particularly whether to exercise “substantial administrative authority.”
Biden’s candidate, Maddox, pointed out the difficulty of characterizing such features neatly. He also said Trump is breaking out of precedent by firing three commissioners rather than following the usual process of making his own nominations when opportunities arise.
Abigail Stout, a lawyer representing the Trump administration, argued that restrictions on the president’s right to remove violated his constitutional authority.
Four Democrats sent letters to the president after Trump announced his Democrat’s firing.
“The move undermines the federal government’s ability to move away from political influence and apply data-driven product safety rules to protect Americans across the country,” they wrote.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission was established in 1972. The five members must be less than three representatives of the Presidential Party and maintain partisan division. They serve as a distorted condition.
That structure ensures that each president is “not control, but not control,” a committee written by the plaintiff’s lawyers in the court’s application. They argued that the recent termination could endanger the committee’s independence.
Nick Sanson, an attorney representing the three commissioners, praised the verdict on Friday.
“Our opinion today reaffirms that the president is not beyond the law,” he said in a statement.
Skene writes for the Associated Press.
