Top Justice Department officials informed Congress on Thursday that President Donald Trump has the constitutional authority to remove judges embedded within executive agencies, directly challenging long-standing protections designed to shield these officials from firings.
In a letter from acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris sent to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the Trump administration argued that long-standing statutes limiting the president’s ability to fire these types of executive agency judges without cause violate the separation of powers outlined in the Constitution. Currently, administrative law judges, who preside over hearings in agencies including the Social Security Administration, National Labor Relations Boards, and Securities and Exchange Commission, can only be dismissed for cause, as determined by the Merit Systems Protection Board after a hearing.
Today, the…
