Cathy Harris: ‘Merit board’ chair was unlawfully fired by Trump, judge rules, keeping her on the job
CNNCNN — The chairwoman of a critical agency that reviews federal employee firings can stay on the job, a judge ruled Tuesday, formally reversing President Donald Trump’s “unlawful” decision to fire her. The Justice Department immediately appealed the decision, calling it “an extraordinary intrusion into the President’s authority.” The next stop is the DC US Circuit Court of Appeals, and after that, the Supreme Court. At a court hearing Monday, Harris’ lawyers argued that the Justice Department was pushing a “breathtaking” legal theory that would “fundamentally erode separation of powers,” by ignoring generations of precedent and letting Trump fire senior officials that are supposed to have some additional protections. “As a result of the Court’s order, a person the President has chosen to remove from office is exercising executive power over the President’s objection, a harm that is transparently irreparable,” the Justice Department wrote.
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