A federal judge reinstated NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox, ruling that President Trump's attempts to dismiss her were unconstitutional. Judge Beryl Howell criticized the defense's arguments and reiterated Congress's power to limit presidential authority. Her 36-page opinion emphasized that judicial and legislative checks on the executive are vital to prevent autocracy. Howell asserted that the president's power to remove federal officers is not absolute and may be constrained, particularly in cases like Wilcox's, underscoring the principles of the Constitution in curbing executive overreach.
"The Constitution and case law are clear in allowing Congress to limit the president's removal power and in allowing the courts to enjoin the executive branch from unlawful action," Howell wrote in a 36-page opinion.
"Defendants' hyperbolic characterization that legislative and judicial checks on executive authority... presents 'extraordinary intrusion[s] on the executive branch,' ...is both incorrect and troubling," the judge wrote.
"Under our constitutional system, such checks, by design, guard against executive overreach and the risk such overreach would pose of autocracy," the judge emphasized.
"An American president is not a king - not even an 'elected' one - and his power to remove federal officers...is not absolute, but may be constrained in appropriate circumstances, as are present here."
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