{"id":2405182,"date":"2025-02-21T13:22:02","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T18:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-doj-seeks-path-to-remove-in-agency-judges-at-will\/"},"modified":"2025-02-21T13:23:44","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T18:23:44","slug":"trump-doj-seeks-path-to-remove-in-agency-judges-at-will","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-doj-seeks-path-to-remove-in-agency-judges-at-will\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump DOJ seeks path to remove in-agency judges at will &#8211;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-doj-seeks-path-to-remove-in-agency-judges-at-will%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2405182&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses a recent development where the Trump administration asserts that President Donald Trump possesses the constitutional authority to\u200d remove \u200bjudges from executive agencies at will. This claim challenges existing protections meant to \u2063shield these <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/as-if-bidens-border-crisis-werent-bad-enough-his-admin-is-booting-immigration-judges-who-actually-enforce-the-law\/\" title=\"As If Biden\u2019s Border Crisis Weren\u2019t Bad Enough, His Admin Is Booting Immigration Judges Who Actually Enforce The Law\">administrative law judges<\/a> (ALJs) from arbitrary dismissal. The acting Solicitor General,\u200d Sarah \u200dharris, communicated this stance\u200c in a letter to Senator Chuck Grassley, arguing that current statutes restricting\u2062 the President\u2019s ability to\u2062 fire these judges violate the separation of\u2062 powers \u2062outlined in the Constitution. <\/p>\n<p>ALJs, who conduct hearings\u2062 in various \u200cfederal agencies, can \u2062currently only be dismissed for cause as\u200c determined by the Merit \u200bSystems Protection Board. The department of Justice has ceased defending the protections afforded \u2062to ALJs in\u2064 court, referencing\u2063 a\u2062 Supreme Court ruling that could undermine similar protections for federal agency members.This push \u200daligns with a broader effort by the Trump administration to limit ALJ \u2062authority and enhance executive control, particularly following a recent Supreme Court decision concerning the rights of \u2063defendants in administrative proceedings.<\/p>\n<p>The article also mentions ongoing legal \u2063disputes\u200b regarding Trump&#8217;s removals of other protected officials and highlights the Association of Administrative Law\u200b Judges&#8217; monitoring\u2064 of the situation.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Trump DOJ seeks path to remove in-agency judges at will<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1999182\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Top <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/justice-department\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Justice Department<\/a> officials informed Congress on Thursday that President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Donald Trump<\/a> has the constitutional authority to remove judges embedded within executive agencies, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">directly challenging long-standing protections designed<\/a> to shield these officials from firings.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>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&rsquo;s ability to fire these types of executive agency judges without cause violate the separation of powers outlined in the Constitution. Currently, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/wex\/administrative_law_judge_(alj)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">administrative law judges<\/a>, who preside over hearings in agencies including the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/social-security-administration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Social Security Administration<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/national-labor-relations-board\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">National Labor Relations Boards<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/sec\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Securities and Exchange Commission<\/a>, can only be dismissed for cause, as determined by the Merit Systems Protection Board after a hearing.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Today, the Department of Justice determined that multiple layers of removal restrictions shielding administrative law judges (ALJs) are unconstitutional. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/lcfPskwkQq\">pic.twitter.com\/lcfPskwkQq<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Chad Mizelle (@ChadMizelle47) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChadMizelle47\/status\/1892743547519893792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 21, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>    <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Today, the Department of Justice determined that multiple layers of removal restrictions shielding administrative law judges (ALJs) are unconstitutional,&rdquo; Chad Mizelle, chief of staff to Attorney General Pam Bondi, wrote in a post on X that attached a copy of Harris&rsquo;s letter.<\/p>\n<p>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&rsquo;s challenge to a fine imposed by an ALJ, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-admin-asks-supreme-court-to-cancel-asylum-border-wall-arguments\/\" title=\"Biden Admin Asks Supreme ... to Cancel Asylum, Border Wall Arguments\">acting solicitor general<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.ca3.120596\/gov.uscourts.ca3.120596.51.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">cited<\/a> a 2010 Supreme Court ruling known as <em>Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board <\/em>that invalidated similar congressional protections for members of another federal agency, arguing that the same principle should apply to ALJs insulated by the MSPB.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Consistent with the Supreme Court&rsquo;s decision in <em>Free Enterprise Fund<\/em>, the Department has determined that those statutory provisions violate Article I by restricting the President&rsquo;s ability to remove principal executive officers, who are in turn restricted in their ability to remove inferior executive officers,&rdquo; Harris told Grassley, who is the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n<p>This push notably follows the Supreme Court&rsquo;s recent&nbsp;<em>Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy<\/em>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/3042116\/supreme-court-rules-to-limit-powers-of-sec\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">decision<\/a>, 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&rsquo;s broader effort to limit the authority of ALJs and expand executive control.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-appeals-court-blocks-joe-bidens-sanctuary-policy\/\" title=\"Federal Appeals ... Blocks Joe Biden\u2019s Sanctuary Policy\">legal challenges continue<\/a> over Trump&rsquo;s firing of other protected officials, including inspectors general and members of independent agencies. A federal judge recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3322769\/judge-reinstates-merit-systems-protection-board-chairwoman-fired-by-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">blocked<\/a> Trump&rsquo;s removal of Cathy Harris, former chairwoman of the MSPB, pending an appeal.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3322769\/judge-reinstates-merit-systems-protection-board-chairwoman-fired-by-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"JUDGE REINSTATES MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD CHAIRWOMAN FIRED BY TRUMP\">JUDGE REINSTATES MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD CHAIRWOMAN FIRED BY TRUMP<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Washington Examiner <\/em>contacted the union but did not receive a response.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1999182\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1999182\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump DOJ claims authority to remove agency judges at will<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2633,"featured_media":2405183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/dept-justice.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[7076,50442,3634],"class_list":["post-2405182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-doj","tag-judges-2","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/dept-justice.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2405182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2633"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2405182"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2405182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2405186,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2405182\/revisions\/2405186"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2405183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2405182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2405182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2405182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}