Court Decision Marks Turning Point in Fight Over Federal Agency Power

In a closely watched case, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday denied a stay to the Trump administration, which means two members of U.S. independent agencies must be reinstated. This marks another significant development in the Trump administration’s broader effort to exert control over executive agencies. The ruling in Harris v. Bessent underscores the legal and constitutional tensions surrounding federal agency independence—and could signal more shakeups ahead.

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Brent Skorup, a legal fellow in Cato’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, issued the following statement in response to Monday’s decision:

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“An order today from a divided D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, in Harris v. Bessent, in effect requires the Trump administration to reinstate appointees that President Trump fired at the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board. There is a major re-shaping of the federal government underway. For decades, Congress slowly aggrandized its power and gave “independent” agencies designed to aid Congress—like the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission—executive powers. Now the Trump administration is seizing the opportunity to strengthen the Executive Branch and claim these “hybrid agencies”—part legislative branch, part executive branch—for itself, including by firing senior appointees.

It’s a slow-motion constitutional mess. Every branch of government contributed. Congress greedily gave “their” agencies executive power. The courts, until recently, remained largely passive. Now the Executive branch is acting opportunistically to compel the agencies to submit. Rather than simply reinstate the fired appointees, Congress or courts should strip the executive powers from these agencies and restore them to Article I and as bipartisan aids to Congress.”

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If you would like to talk with Skorup about this decision and its further implications, please reach out to mmiller@​cato.​org.