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 Department of Justice determined that multiple layers of removal restrictions shielding administrative law judges (ALJs) are unconstitutional. pic.twitter.com/lcfPskwkQq
— Chad Mizelle (@ChadMizelle47) February 21, 2025
“Today, the Department of Justice determined that multiple layers of removal restrictions shielding administrative law judges (ALJs) are unconstitutional,” Chad Mizelle, chief of staff to Attorney General Pam Bondi, wrote in a post on X that attached a copy of Harris’s letter.
The letter came as the DOJ has already stopped defending the constitutionality of ALJ protections in recent court filings. In a Feb. 11 filing involving a paint company’s challenge to a fine imposed by an ALJ, the acting solicitor general cited a 2010 Supreme Court ruling known as Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board that invalidated similar congressional protections for members of another federal agency, arguing that the same principle should apply to ALJs insulated by the MSPB.
“Consistent with the Supreme Court’s decision in Free Enterprise Fund, the Department has determined that those statutory provisions violate Article I by restricting the President’s ability to remove principal executive officers, who are in turn restricted in their ability to remove inferior executive officers,” Harris told Grassley, who is the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
This push notably follows the Supreme Court’s recent Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy decision, a 6-3 ruling that clawed back some ALJ powers by ruling that defendants in certain administrative proceedings are entitled to a jury trial under the Seventh Amendment. That decision has added momentum to Trump’s broader effort to limit the authority of ALJs and expand executive control.
Meanwhile, legal challenges continue over Trump’s firing of other protected officials, including inspectors general and members of independent agencies. A federal judge recently blocked Trump’s removal of Cathy Harris, former chairwoman of the MSPB, pending an appeal.
JUDGE REINSTATES MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD CHAIRWOMAN FIRED BY TRUMP
The Association of Administrative Law Judges, a union representing over 900 judges at the Social Security Administration, released a statement saying it is monitoring the situation closely.
The Washington Examiner contacted the union but did not receive a response.