A federal judge in Washington ruled Tuesday that Cathy A. Harris, the chair of the federal Merit Systems Protection Board, cannot be fired by President Donald Trump “at will” and entered a permanent injunction prohibiting administration officials from taking action against her unless she is found inefficient, neglectful or corrupt in office.
Federal judge rules Trump’s firing of merit board chair was illegal
Cathy A. Harris, appointed by Biden in 2022, cannot be fired ‘at will’ from the MSPB and must be restored, the judge rules
March 4, 2025 The Washington Post
By Tom Jackman
Harris received an email Feb. 10 from the White House personnel office saying her position was “terminated, effective immediately.” She sued Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other Trump administration officials the next day, arguing that she could be removed only for cause, not “at will” by the president. She was one of five heads of government watchdog agencies who were summarily fired that week.
Within a week, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras entered a temporary restraining order, saying Harris must be returned to her post. On Tuesday, Contreras granted summary judgment to Harris and a permanent injunction prohibiting Bessent, the White House personnel office, the current acting chair of the merit board and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought from removing Harris.
The three members of the board are appointed by the president. “Federal law states,” Contreras wrote, “that members of the MSPB may be removed from office ‘only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office,’” but the president “provided no reason for Harris’s termination.” In one hearing, Contreras pressed government lawyers for reasons Harris should be fired, or how her handling of cases might differ from Trump’s approach, but the lawyers declined to answer.
“Federal law thus prevents the President from removing members of the MSPB without cause,” Contreras ruled in a 35-page opinion, “and the President’s attempt to terminate Harris was unlawful.”
The Merit Systems Protection Board’s primary function is to protect federal hiring and promoting practices from partisan politics by allowing employees to appeal actions such as suspensions and terminations. The board also hears whistleblower retaliation cases. The Senate confirmed Harris to the board in May 2022 and as chair in March 2024. Her term expires March 1, 2028.
The Trump administration did “not dispute that Harris has been efficient and effective in her role at the MSPB,” Contreras wrote. When she was appointed, the agency had a backlog of about 3,800 cases. By January of this year, the agency had cleared almost 99 percent of the backlog and Harris had participated in nearly 4,500 decisions.
Contreras noted that the Supreme Court had encountered similar cases twice before, and reinstated both fired officials. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 fired a member of the Federal Trade Commission who had been appointed by his predecessor, Herbert Hoover, which the high court found illegal. Similarly, a move by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953 to fire a War Claims Commission member appointed by President Harry S. Truman was also reversed.