President Donald Trump and Cathy Harris (Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images, left, U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, right. )
TRUMP FIRES 17 GOVERNMENT WATCHDOGS AT VARIOUS FEDERAL AGENCIES
On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Rudolph Contreras of the District of Columbia agreed with Harris and wrote that federal law states that members of the MSPB may be removed from office "only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office."
Contreras wrote that President Donald Trump informed Harris that her position on the MSPB was "terminated, effective immediately," but provided no reason for Harris’s termination.
Harris was appointed to the board in 2022 by former President Joe Biden for a 7-year term. The merit Systems Protection Board is the primary agency used by civil servants to file complaints within the federal government.
Trump named Henry Kerner, a Republican, as its acting chair upon returning to the White House on Jan. 20.
Harris was nominated by former President Biden. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The judge wrote that injunctive relief in this case is in the public interest, and the balance of the equities tips in Harris’s favor.
"Given that federal law limits the conditions under which Harris’s tenure may be terminated, Supreme Court precedent supports the constitutionality of those conditions, and defendants do not argue that those conditions were met here, the court finds that it is in the public interest to issue injunctive relief," the judge wrote.
Government attorneys had argued that the court didn’t have the authority to reinstate Harris or bar Trump from replacing her on the board.
"The American people elected President Trump to run the executive branch," they wrote in court documents. "And President Trump has determined that keeping (Harris) in office no longer serves the best interests of the American people. That democratically accountable choice should be respected."
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.
You can send tips to michael.dorgan@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/federal-judge-reverses-trump-firing-federal-employees-appeal-board-chairwoman