the orange man has won one;

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has dismantled long-standing congressional barriers that shielded unaccountable bureaucrats from the people’s elected leader.

On Friday, a three-judge panel ruled 2-1 that President Donald J. Trump, and any future commander-in-chief, has the unfettered right to remove members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) without cause.

The decision, penned by Circuit Judge Neomi Rao Katsas and joined by Judge Justin Walker, both appointed by Trump, reverses lower court rulings that had propped up these “for cause” removal protections as relics of a bygone era.

“Congress may not restrict the President’s ability to remove principal officers who wield substantial executive power,” Judge Katsas wrote, invoking the Supreme Court’s landmark 2020 ruling in Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

At issue were two consolidated challenges: one from Cathy A. Harris, a holdover MSPB member suing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and another from Gwynne A. Wilcox, an NLRB commissioner targeting President Trump and NLRB Chairman Marvin E. Kaplan.............more..........