The National Labor Relations Board hears complaints regarding union members. But, it also has jurisdiction over complaints by non-union member who discuss conditions and terms of employment. Early in February, Pres. Trump fired the Chairman of the NLRB, Gwynne Wilcox. I wrote about that odd termination here. It was clearly an unlawful termination. The pertinent statute requires that board members be terminated for good cause. Well, a Judge decided that her termination violated the National Labor Relations Act. The Judge specifically pointed to Trump’s post a few weeks ago depicting himself as a king. Judge Howell said a President is not a king. See CBS news report here for more information.

In her order, Judge Howell pointed to the government’s “hyperbolic” argument that allowing checks on executive power amounted to “extraordinary intrusion” on executive power. The government’s remark is both troubling and incorrect, said the court. As the Judge rightly pointed out, the U.S. Constitution is replete with checks on executive authority. See her order here.

Prior to this termination, no president had ever terminated a member of the NLRB board. The President may be seeking to appeal this issue to the U.S. Supreme Court, so he can challenge long-time precedent regarding these semi-independent agencies.