The Supreme Court issued a provisional decision allowing President Donald Trump to not reinstate two members of independent federal agencies, Gwynne Wilcox and Cathy Harris. The court temporarily blocked lower court rulings that they should be reinstated, pending further hearings and arguments from the ousted officials’ lawyers. Wilcox, a member of the National Labor Relations Board, and Harris, a member of the Merit Systems Protection Board, were appointed by former Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump, respectively, with protections against removal without cause. The current conservative majority of the Supreme Court has been reversing previous decisions protecting members of independent agencies from being fired without cause. Conservative legal arguments suggest that independent agencies lack accountability to the democratically elected president and should be subject to his power to remove agency heads at will. This case raises questions about whether the president has the authority to fire members of agencies like the Federal Reserve, which traditionally operate independently of the White House. The decision ultimately will determine the balance between presidential power and agency independence in the federal government.
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