Supreme Court Allows Trump's Termination of Democratic NLRB Member Gwynne Wilcox to Stand
The conservative majority left in place a ruling that lets the president remove members of the board that protects workers' right to unionize.
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear Gwynne Wilcox's challenge to her firing from the National Labor Relations Board. That leaves in place a lower-court ruling that President Trump had the power to remove her.
The justices denied her petition in Wilcox v. Trump (No. 26-5) in a one-line order with no explanation and no noted dissent.
The NLRB enforces the National Labor Relations Act, the law that protects most private-sector workers' right to organize, join a union, and bargain together. Its board decides cases about workers fired for union activity and other employer unfair labor practices.
How we got here
Trump fired Wilcox by email in January 2025, about a week into his second term. She was the first Black woman to serve on the board, and her second term was set to run until August 2028. Federal law says a board member may be removed only "upon notice and hearing, for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office, but for no other cause" (29 U.S.C. § 153(a)). Wilcox says she got no notice, hearing, or cause; Trump said he wanted a board of his own choosing to carry out his policies.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled in March 2025 that the firing was unlawful. The Supreme Court later blocked Wilcox's return while the case went on. In December 2025, a divided D.C. Circuit panel ruled 2-1 that the firing was a "valid exercise of executive authority," Reuters reported.
Then in June 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Trump v. Slaughter that the president can fire Federal Trade Commission members at will, overruling a 1935 precedent that had protected independent agencies. Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the justices that ruling "control[led]" Wilcox's case.
Wilcox argued the NLRB works like an independent court. Leaving its status open, she warned, "would cast those decisions into doubt," meaning the hundreds of rulings the board issues each year.
What it means for workers
The Court did not decide the question on the merits. But with Wilcox's case over, the D.C. Circuit's ruling stands: the president can remove the officials who decide whether a worker was illegally fired for organizing. A board that answers to the White House can shift workers' protections with each new administration.
It's another blow to federal labor protections this month, after the VA dropped its union contract for 300,000-plus workers.
Sources
- Supreme Court docket, Wilcox v. Trump, No. 26-5 (Supreme Court of the United States)
- Order List, Oct. 19, 2026 (Supreme Court of the United States)
- US Supreme Court won't review Trump's firing of labor board member (Reuters, via NY Daily Record)
- Labor board member fired by Trump loses out on Supreme Court review (Courthouse News Service)
- SCOTUS turns away Trump-fired board member (Law&Crime)
- Trump fires acting Labor Board chair in legally dubious move (Axios)
- Supreme Court Overrules Humphrey's Executor (Venable LLP)
- 29 U.S.C. § 153 (Cornell Legal Information Institute)
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