By Mike Scarcella
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump’s administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to intervene in his bid to fire three Democratic Consumer Product Safety Commission members by putting on hold a judicial order calling for their reinstatement.
In the latest fight over presidential powers to reach the top U.S. judicial body since Trump returned to office in January, the three commissioners in a separate filing told the justices they should be allowed to continue serving while the Supreme Court considers the administration’s request.
Maryland-based U.S. District Judge Matthew Maddox ruled last month that the Republican president had overstepped his authority when he dismissed Commissioners Mary Boyle, Alexander Hoehn-Saric and Richard Trumka Jr, all of whom were appointed by Democratic former President Joe Biden.
The Justice Department in Wednesday’s filing told the Supreme Court that Trump had acted within his powers.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission was created by Congress in 1972 and tasked with shielding consumers from injury or death from defective or harmful products.
After being notified in May that Trump had fired them, Boyle, Hoehn-Saric and Trumka sued to challenge the action. Commissioners of independent agencies established by Congress such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission can be removed by the president only for neglect of duty or malfeasance, not at will, their lawsuit noted.
Boyle, Hoehn-Saric and Trumka make up a majority on the five-member board. The Justice Department in its filing said the three commissioners have expressed hostility to Trump’s agenda.
The Supreme Court in May decided that Trump could bar two Democratic members of federal labor boards from their posts while they challenge the legality of his dismissal of them, on similar grounds as in the Consumer Product Safety Commission litigation.
The Trump administration cited that order in its filing on Wednesday.
The judge said Boyle, Hoehn-Saric and Trumka “have performed ably in their roles” and that the administration had not presented a justification for terminating them.
The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday rejected the administration’s request to pause Maddox’s reinstatement order.
“Congress lawfully constrained the president’s removal authority, and no court has found that constraint unconstitutional,” 4th Circuit Judge James Wynn wrote.
Wynn said the continued service of Boyle, Hoehn-Saric and Trumka “preserves, rather than disrupts, agency operations.”
The administration has asked the 4th Circuit to overturn Maddox’s ruling. In a filing, the Justice Department told the 4th Circuit that the judge’s reinstatement order “works a grave harm to the separation of powers and undermines the president’s ability to exercise his authority under the Constitution.”
Under the Constitution, there are three branches of the U.S. government – the executive, legislative and judicial – with the intent of creating a system of checks and balances.
Wednesday’s filing marks the latest instance of Trump’s administration coming to the Supreme Court to challenge a judicial ruling that blocked one of his actions. The court last Friday curbed the ability of federal judges to impede Trump’s policies with injunctions in force nationwide, changing the power balance between the U.S. judiciary and presidents.
(Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by Will Dunham)
