Jul 1, 06:13 PM

D.C. Circuit Lets Trump Proceed With Ousting Privacy Board Members

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday lifted a lower-court injunction that had blocked former President Donald Trump from dismissing two Democratic members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. In an unsigned order, a three-judge panel said the statute creating the watchdog does not expressly limit presidential removal authority, allowing the administration to proceed with the firings while litigation continues. Judges Gregory Katsas, Neomi Rao and Justin Walker wrote that Congress must clearly restrict a president’s power to remove principal officers, and that the PCLOB’s enabling law contains no such language. The panel rejected a district court’s analogy to multimember independent agencies protected under the Supreme Court’s 1935 Humphrey’s Executor decision, noting the privacy board lacks adjudicatory functions and therefore does not merit similar tenure safeguards. The case, LeBlanc v. U.S. Privacy & Civil Liberties Oversight Board (No. 25-05197), is among several challenges testing the scope of presidential control over independent bodies. The board members, represented by Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, can seek further review, but for now the ruling reinstates Trump’s authority to remove them.

#Donald Trump #Democratic #Gregory Katsas #Neomi Rao #Justin Walker #Congress #PCLOB #Supreme Court #Humphrey #Executor #LeBlanc #Trump

Written with ChatGPT .

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