UPDATE (April 9, 2025, 4:33 p.m. ET): Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday temporarily halted orders that reinstated federal independent agency members whom President Donald Trump sought to fire. Litigation will continue in the case at the Supreme Court.

In a divided ruling on an issue that could ultimately be resolved at the Supreme Court, a full slate of federal appeals court judges in Washington, D.C., reinstated two members of independent agencies whom President Donald Trump sought to fire.

Though the split decision is a temporary victory for Gwynne Wilcox of the National Labor Relations Board and Cathy Harris of the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Supreme Court could eventually side with the Trump administration and overturn a long-standing precedent in the process.  

At the center of the litigation is a 1935 precedent called Humphrey’s Executor, which has protected independent agency members. The decision was called out for targeting in Project 2025, and the Trump administration said it wants it reversed.

Over dissents from Republican-appointed D.C. Circuit judges Monday, the majority noted that Humphrey’s Executor is still a binding precedent. One of the dissenting judges said that “only the Supreme Court can decide the dispute and, in my opinion, the sooner, the better.”

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