Trump pushes justices to boot Democrats from product safety agency

WASHINGTON (CN) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to help purge political opponents from independent government agencies — specifically to keep three Democratic regulators off the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

A federal judge ordered the administration to reinstate Mary Boyle, Richard Trumka Jr. and Alexander Hoehn-Saric after they were fired from the agency. The regulators said they were targeted because they voted against importing poorly made lithium-ion batteries and objected to staffing cuts.

Trump asked the justices to block the lower court order, removing the commissioners from their posts again. He claims the regulators were hostile to his agenda and unlawfully prevented him from exercising executive authority. The administration pushed the justices to take action immediately, booting the reinstated commissioners before issuing a final decision on the emergency appeal.

Democratic commissioners quickly rebutted Trump’s request, arguing that pulling commissioners from the board while the court reviews the appeal is unnecessary.

“Because respondents are currently serving and have been since June 13, an administrative stay would disrupt the status quo,” the commissioners wrote.

Under the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling Humphrey’s Executor v. United States , presidents can’t terminate independent board members at will. The president appoints board members, who the Senate confirms. Members then maintain for-cause removal protections, creating limited circumstances for their termination, such as misconduct. For-cause removal protections shield independent board members from political interference.

Trump, however, claims presidents need unrestricted removal power over the executive branch, embracing a broader version of Article II called the unitary executive theory.

After chipping away at Humphrey’s Executor over the last decade, the Roberts court allowed Trump to ignore the 90-year-old precedent to terminate independent officials atop the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board.

Emergency docket appeals do not typically create precedent, but Trump argued that the justices’ order in Trump v. Wilcox should govern the result in this appeal as well.

“Wilcox did not definitively resolve the merits, but it is a binding precedent on the application of the stay factors,” U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer wrote.

“This court should step in to stop lower courts from treating Wilcox like the proverbial excursion ticket — good for one day and trip only.”

Boyle, Hoehn-Saric and Trumka were Biden appointees to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and their terms were set to end in October 2025. However, in May, the White House began early terminations for the commissioners.

The Democratic commissioners sued the administration for wrongful termination. U.S. District Judge Matthew Maddox in Maryland found that the regulators were protected by Humphrey’s Executor and reinstated them.

Boyle, Hoehn-Saric and Trumka moved to quickly undo regulatory changes in their absence once back on the commission. The commissioners acted to bar the implementation of any reduction-in-force orders, continue work on projects and draft final rules for new product regulations.

Trump said these actions illustrate why they need to be removed from the commission.

“In light of the untenable chaos caused by respondents’ court-ordered takeover of the CPSC, by respondents’ aggressive efforts to wield executive power while stay proceedings remain ongoing, and by one of the reinstated commissioner’s threats to take action against staff members who do not carry out his directives, this court’s prompt intervention is needed,” Sauer wrote.

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