On October 19, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the firing of former National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox by President Donald Trump. The decision leaves intact a D.C. Circuit ruling that statutory protections against at-will removals are unconstitutional, following the high court's June 2026 ruling in Trump v. Slaughter that overturned the 1935 Humphrey's Executor precedent and expanded White House control over independent agencies.
Gwynne Wilcox's Supreme Court appeal
- ▪On October 19, 2026, Gwynne Wilcox stated that she was disappointed by the Supreme Court's refusal to hear her case, citing the impact on workers and employers relying on impartial labor dispute resolution.
- ▪In her Supreme Court petition, Gwynne Wilcox argued that the NLRB differs from the FTC and that any unconstitutional board authorities should be severed rather than invalidating removal protections.
- ▪On October 19, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review an appeal from former National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox challenging her termination by President Donald Trump.
Gwynne Wilcox's removal from office
- ▪President Donald Trump removed Gwynne Wilcox from the NLRB about one week into his second presidential term as part of a broader government restructuring and downsizing initiative.
- ▪Gwynne Wilcox, who was appointed to a five-year NLRB term by President Joe Biden in 2023 as the board's first Black woman member, was terminated by President Donald Trump in January 2025.
Lower court rulings on Wilcox's firing
- ▪In March 2025, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell had initially upheld federal statutory protections against removing NLRB board members without cause before the decision was reversed on appeal.
- ▪The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 in December 2025 that statutory limits on President Donald Trump's authority to fire NLRB members were unconstitutional.
Supreme Court decisions on presidential removal power
- ▪The Supreme Court's June 2026 decision in Trump v. Slaughter overturned the 1935 Humphrey's Executor precedent that allowed Congress to protect leaders of independent regulatory agencies from presidential removal at will.
- ▪While the Supreme Court upheld President Donald Trump's removals of NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox and FTC member Rebecca Slaughter, the court previously prevented Trump from firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
Independence of federal regulatory agencies
- ▪During his second presidential term, President Donald Trump pushed out Democratic-appointed members of independent federal agencies, ignoring rules that protected them from being fired without cause.
- ▪Federal regulatory bodies such as the NLRB and FTC were designed by Congress to function independently of presidential control using bipartisan leadership boards.
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