Judge rules Trump doesn’t have the power to fire a civil service board member ‘at will’

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump did not have the authority to attempt to fire a member of the board responsible for protecting federal government employees from political reprisals or retaliation for whistleblowing, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.

Merit Systems Protection Board member Cathy Harris, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, a Democrat, sued to keep her job after the White House told her last month that her position would be terminated.

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled that Trump, a Republican, doesn’t have the power to remove Harris from office “at will.” Trump’s attempt to fire her was illegal because he didn’t seek to remove her for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office,” the judge said.

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