“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.
What’s at stake in this case?
Two independent federal agency heads challenged their firing by Trump without cause.
What happened in this case?
As part of his effort to exert more control over the federal government, Trump fired heads of two independent federal agencies without cause in February. These included Democrats appointed to the National Labore Relations Board (NLRB) and the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), which seek to protect the rights of federal and other workers protected by federal labor law.
Because federal law also forbids firing of such officials without cause, which Trump did, they sued Trump. They both prevailed in federal district court, which ordered their reinstatement, but the decisions were stayed pending the outcome of the appeals.
The appeal was considered by three judges. These included Trump judges Greg Katsas and Justin Walker plus Biden appointee Florence Pan. The decision was in December 2025 in Harris v Bessent.
How did the Trump judges Katsas and Walker decide?
Judge Katsas wrote a 2-1 decision, joined by Judge Walker, which reversed the courts below and upheld Trump’s firing of the NLRB and MSPB officials. They maintained that though the agencies exercised significant adjudicatory authority, they also performed extensive executive functions through such actions as rulemaking. Accordingly, the president retained the authority to hire and fire such officials and Congress could not require that they be fired only for cause
What did Judge Pan say in dissent?
Judge Pan strongly dissented. She pointed out that under the majority’s reasoning, “no independent agencies may lawfully exist in this country.” The result would effectively overrule the Court’s landmark Humphrey’s Executor case from the 1930s, which upheld independent agencies. It would threaten the work of 33 such agencies that “Congress has entrusted” with such critical tasks as “promoting public safety” and “helping the disadvantaged.” And by concentrating excessive power in the hands of the president, she wrote, it would “pave the way to autocracy.”
Why is the result of this case harmful?
The ruling by Trump judges Katsas and Walker threatens to effectively eliminate independent federal agencies and largely transform our government into an autocracy. These threats are even more serious depending on the outcome of the Slaughter case being argued in the Supreme Court on December 8 concerning the firing of an FTC commissioner. In addition, the decision illustrates the importance of our federal courts to health, welfare and justice and the significance of having fair-minded judges on the federal bench.