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US judge reinstates Democratic labor board member fired by Trump
A federal judge on Thursday said U.S. President Donald Trump's firing of a Democratic member of the National Labor Relations Board was illegal and ordered that she be reinstated to her post.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., restores a quorum of three members at the labor board, which had been paralyzed and unable to decide cases involving private-sector employers after Trump removed Gwynne Wilcox in January.
Wilcox claimed that Trump violated a requirement in federal labor law that NLRB members only be removed for "neglect of duty or malfeasance in office." The Trump administration acknowledged violating the law, but said the protections from removal for board members were unconstitutional.
Howell in a 36-page decision sharply rejected those claims.
"An American President is not a king — not even an 'elected' one — and his power to remove federal officers and honest civil servants like [Wilcox] is not absolute, but may be constrained in appropriate circumstances, as are present here," wrote Howell, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama.
"The President’s interpretation of the scope of his constitutional power — or, more aptly, his aspiration — is flat wrong," she added.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly called Howell "a radical liberal judge" and said her "clearly partisan opinion" would not be the last say on the matter.
"The Trump Administration will pursue all legal remedies to vindicate the President’s power for removal," Kelly said in a statement.
Deepak Gupta, a lawyer for Wilcox, said that "this decisive victory firmly rejects an extreme presidential power grab."
He said the decision was a win not only for Wilcox, but also for the integrity of the NLRB and its mission to protect American workers.
The NLRB, which has five members when fully stocked, enforces laws protecting private-sector workers' rights to organize, join unions and advocate for better working conditions, and oversees union elections.
Click on the link for the full article
A federal judge on Thursday said U.S. President Donald Trump's firing of a Democratic member of the National Labor Relations Board was illegal and ordered that she be reinstated to her post.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., restores a quorum of three members at the labor board, which had been paralyzed and unable to decide cases involving private-sector employers after Trump removed Gwynne Wilcox in January.
Wilcox claimed that Trump violated a requirement in federal labor law that NLRB members only be removed for "neglect of duty or malfeasance in office." The Trump administration acknowledged violating the law, but said the protections from removal for board members were unconstitutional.
Howell in a 36-page decision sharply rejected those claims.
"An American President is not a king — not even an 'elected' one — and his power to remove federal officers and honest civil servants like [Wilcox] is not absolute, but may be constrained in appropriate circumstances, as are present here," wrote Howell, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama.
"The President’s interpretation of the scope of his constitutional power — or, more aptly, his aspiration — is flat wrong," she added.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly called Howell "a radical liberal judge" and said her "clearly partisan opinion" would not be the last say on the matter.
"The Trump Administration will pursue all legal remedies to vindicate the President’s power for removal," Kelly said in a statement.
Deepak Gupta, a lawyer for Wilcox, said that "this decisive victory firmly rejects an extreme presidential power grab."
He said the decision was a win not only for Wilcox, but also for the integrity of the NLRB and its mission to protect American workers.
The NLRB, which has five members when fully stocked, enforces laws protecting private-sector workers' rights to organize, join unions and advocate for better working conditions, and oversees union elections.
Click on the link for the full article