Federal Judge Blocks Trump From Firing Merit Systems Protection Board Chair
A federal judge in Washington, D.C. temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from illegally firing Cathy Harris, chair of the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board.
This board protects federal workers from unfair employment practices like politically motivated firings and reprisal for whistleblowers.
Feb. 12
Chair of Board That Protects Rights of Federal Workers Sues Trump for Illegally Firing Her
Cathy Harris, the chair of a board protecting government workers from unfair employment practices, sued President Donald Trump’s administration Wednesday for illegally firing her.
In 2022, Harris was appointed by former President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate to serve a seven-year term on the U.S. Merits Systems Protection Board (MSPB). She became chair of the board last year.
The MSPB is an independent, quasi-judicial agency that hears appeals from federal employees reporting prohibited personnel practices, including politically motivated firings and reprisal for whistleblowers.
The Civil Service Reform Act (CRSA) of 1978 states that board members can be removed by the president “only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office,” emphasizing the importance of the board’s “independent decisionmaking.”
In her lawsuit, Harris said Trump “disregarded that clear statutory language.” She received a Feb. 10 email that said “On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position on the Merit Systems Protection Board is terminated, effective immediately.”
She argued that the “one-sentence email does not allege any inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office…nor is there any basis for such an allegation.”
Harris also noted that “the constitutionality of that protection [for MSPB members] is dictated by nearly a century of binding Supreme Court precedent upholding materially identical restrictions.”
With Trump firing government workers at an unprecedented rate, like FBI officials, inspectors general in numerous agencies, a National Labor Relations Board member and the Special Counsel, the “MSPB’s ability to protect the civil service is needed now more than ever,” Harris said in the lawsuit.
She argued the Trump administration violated the CRSA, the Administrative Procedure Act and separation of powers clauses in the U.S. Constitution. Harris asked the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C. to declare that her termination was unlawful and that she is a member of the MSPB.