“Confirmed Judges, Confirmed Fears” is a blog series documenting the harmful impact of President Trump’s judges on Americans’ rights and liberties. It includes judges nominated in both his first and second terms.
Trump D.C. Circuit judges Greg Katsas, Neomi Rao, and Justin Walker issued an order that allowed Donald Trump to fire for now a member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) without cause and despite a lower court injunction to the contrary. The July 2025 order staying the lower court ruling was in Grundmann v Trump.
What happened in this case?
In February 2025, Trump fired Susan Grundmann from a position on the three-member FLRA, a Congressionally-created independent agency that hears disputes between federal agencies and their workers’ unions and is likely to “play a role” in Trump’s efforts to overhaul the federal workforce. Although the law provides that FLRA members can be removed only for cause, no cause was cited in Trump’s brief removal order. Grundmann is a Democratic member of the board, so that the agency now has one member from each party.
Grundmann filed suit contesting her involuntary removal. The Administration claimed that the law’s provision restricting removals that are not for cause improperly infringes on the President’s authority. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan rejected the Administration’s arguments and entered a preliminary injunction in March that restored her to her position on the board.
Several months later, the Administration sought a stay of the order pending appeal, which Judge Sooknanan denied in a careful opinion. The Administration then sought a stay from the court of appeals to allow Grundmann’s firing while the lawsuit continues.
How did Trump judges Katsas, Rao and Walker rule and why is the result harmful?
In a brief unsigned order, Trump judges Katsas, Rao and Walker granted the Administration’s motion for a stay, allowing Grundmann’s firing while the case continues. The panel claimed that the case was analogous to litigation involving comparable removals by Trump of members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), in which the Supreme Court stayed orders like the one at issue here.
The panel failed, however, to address or even mention the district court’s determination that the NLRB/MSPB case did not apply because of the differences among the agencies, including the fact that the FLRA, while providing important expertise and advice, does not exercise “substantial executive power.” The Trump judges’ decision will clearly harm the FLRA and federal labor unions, at least as long as the litigation continues. In addition, this case illustrates the importance of our federal courts to health, welfare and justice and the significance of having fair-minded judges on the federal bench.