Last week, Gwynne Wilcox, former Chair of the National Labor Relations Board sued President Trump, demanding her reinstatement. She believes her firing is unconstitutional because long standing precedent protects heads of independent agencies from removal.
Unfortunately for Wilcox, the conservative majority Supreme Court is unlikely to rule in her favor as President Trump’s action falls in line with the legal Right’s long term goal of ending independent agencies and establishing robust executive control over the federal bureaucracy.
Wilcox is relying on the 1935 case Humphrey’s Executor v. US, where the Supreme Court held that heads of agencies which yield “quasi legislative or judicial” power cannot be removed without cause. Humphrey’s Executor and its successor case, Morrison v. Olson are the bedrocks of modern administrative law. In Morrison, the Supreme Court further…
