The Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear the case of a former National Labor Relations Board member fired by President Donald Trump last year, backing the executive branch’s authority over independent agencies.
The justices denied former NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling in favor of the president, who removed Wilcox from the agency in January 2025. Wilcox, who was nominated twice by former President Joe Biden, sued Trump the following month, claiming that Congress only permitted for-cause removal of NLRB members.
The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled against Wilcox in December. The court declined to rehear her case before a full panel of judges in January.
The Supreme Court ruled in June that Trump could fire former Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, overturning decades-old precedent limiting such firings to for-cause removal. Wilcox cited that precedent in her own case.
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Wilcox served from 2021 until her removal last year. Her second term as a board member was slated to end in August 2028. Wilcox, who briefly served as the board’s chair, was the first Black woman to serve on the NLRB.
Wilcox’s firing eliminated the quorum on the NLRB and stalled scores of labor cases. The board regained a quorum in December when the Senate confirmed two Trump nominees.
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