Supreme Court Turns Away Wilcox Challenge to Her Firing From the Labor Board

The US Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a challenge by Gwynne Wilcox, a Democratic appointed member of the National Labor Relations Board, to her firing by President Donald Trump. The justices turned away her appeal of a lower court ruling that said the firing in January 2025 was a valid exercise of executive authority.

The decision closes the case for Wilcox. It leaves in place a ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which allowed Trump to fire her at will despite a federal law that protected board members from dismissal without cause, Bloomberg Law reported. Reuters reported the same outcome on Monday.

The Slaughter decision behind it

The court's action follows its June decision backing Trump's firing of Rebecca Slaughter, a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission. That ruling overturned the court's 1935 precedent in Humphrey's Executor, which had recognized the authority of Congress to protect the leaders of certain regulatory agencies from removal at will by a president.

Bloomberg Law reported that denying Wilcox's petition signals the broad application of the Slaughter decision. In her petition, Wilcox argued that the labor board and the trade commission are different in key ways. She also argued that if parts of board members' authority raise separation of powers problems, the court should cut those parts away rather than strike down the removal protections. The Trump administration told the court that Slaughter made clear her arguments have no merit. The case is Wilcox v. Trump, No. 26-5.

How the case reached the court

Wilcox was the first Black woman to serve on the board of the labor agency. President Joe Biden appointed her to a second five year term in 2023. Trump moved to fire her about a week into his second term, and she sued.

US District Judge Beryl Howell ruled in March 2025 that the federal law protecting board officials from firing without cause was valid. She rejected Trump's argument that the law passed by Congress encroaches on authority granted to the president under the US Constitution. A panel of the District of Columbia Circuit reversed that ruling in a 2 to 1 decision in December 2025, which prompted Wilcox's appeal to the Supreme Court.

A test of presidential control

The legal fight over Wilcox and other fired officials has been a key test of Trump's effort to bring federal agencies that Congress meant to be independent under presidential control. Her removal was part of a wider shakeup and downsizing of the US government that included firing thousands of workers, dismantling federal agencies, installing loyalists in key jobs and removing career officials.

With the appeal turned away, the appeals court ruling stands and Wilcox will not return to the board under this case.