WASHINGTON, DC – Upon reports that President Donald Trump has fired National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Member Gwynne Wilcox without good cause, Constitutional Accountability Center Deputy Chief Counsel Brian Frazelle issued the following reaction:

Supreme Court precedent makes clear that Congress can shield the leaders of multimember expert boards like the NLRB from being fired except for good cause. Indeed, that kind of good-cause tenure protection goes back to the nineteenth century and has consistently been affirmed by the Supreme Court for almost 100 years. Only recently, federal courts, including the very conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, have agreed that Congress may protect the leaders of agencies like the NLRB from being fired at will. President Trump’s firing of an NLRB Member without good cause flies in the face of that precedent and practice and is blatantly unconstitutional.

Constitutional Accountability Center Chief Counsel Brianne Gorod added:

In purporting to fire an NLRB Member without good cause, President Trump has shown, yet again, his utter contempt for the rule of law and Supreme Court precedent. And it will, yet again, be up to the courts to uphold the rule of law and make clear that President Trump must abide by the rules set by our Constitution and federal law. The ability of the Board to do its important work on behalf of America’s workers depends on it.