In a new twist in the saga of executive power versus independent oversight, the Trump administration has taken its fight to the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking permission to remove three Democratic members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) who were appointed during President Biden’s tenure. The catch? A federal judge has already ordered their reinstatement.
At the heart of the matter are commissioners Mary Boyle, Alexander Hoehn-Saric, and Richard Trumka Jr., who hold the majority on the five-member board. They were dismissed in May—no explanation offered. In response, they sued, arguing that the CPSC was designed to operate independently of presidential whims, with firings only permitted for “neglect of duty or malfeasance.”
Judge Matthew Maddox, who ruled in their favor last month, found no such failings. Instead, he concluded Trump had overreached, and ordered their return to office. But the Trump administration isn’t letting that stand. In its petition to the high court, the Justice Department contends that the President is well within his constitutional authority to remove executive officials, even those helming independent commissions.
The White House, standing firm, said the president’s firing powers have been “decisively upheld” before and should be respected now. The administration also highlighted a May ruling from the Supreme Court that allowed Trump to block two Democratic appointees from federal labor boards—a decision they say backs their position.
But the legal landscape is murky. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond denied Trump’s bid to pause the reinstatement order, with Judge James Wynn writing that “Congress lawfully constrained the president’s removal authority, and no court has found that constraint unconstitutional.”
Wynn added that reinstating the commissioners actually supports the agency’s operations, rather than disrupting them. Still, the Justice Department insists that the district court’s order “undermines the president’s ability to exercise his authority under the Constitution,” and harms the balance of power between the branches of government.
Created in 1972, the CPSC was built to protect the public from dangerous products—flaming toasters, exploding batteries, and the like. But now it’s caught in the flames of a constitutional battle over the limits of presidential muscle.
As the case heads to the Supreme Court, it’s more than just a fight over three commissioners—it’s a test of how far a president can go in reshaping institutions meant to act as brakes, not accelerators, on political power.
