Ahead of a Monday oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court , as a 90-year-old firing protection precedent hangs in the balance, the federal appeals court for Washington, D.C., on the strength of a 2-1 majority appointed by President Donald Trump , reversed the lower courts and blessed the ousters of Democratic members at two independent agencies.

With Trump-appointed U.S. Circuit Judges Neomi Rao and Gregory Katsas in the majority, the D.C. Circuit held that, despite congressional attempts to rein in the executive, the president can fire members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) without cause.

Katsas, writing for the majority , opined that Congress "may not restrict the President's ability to remove principal officers who wield substant

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