US judge orders Trump to reinstate fired product safety commissioners

By Mike Scarcella

(Reuters) -A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Trump administration unlawfully removed three Democratic members of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and ordered the agency to reinstate them.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Maddox in Maryland said in his ruling that Republican U.S. President Donald Trump's administration overstepped its authority when it dismissed commissioners Mary Boyle, Alexander Hoehn-Saric and Richard Trumka Jr.

Boyle, Hoehn-Saric and Trumka Jr., who sued the administration in May, were appointed to the five-member commission by Democratic former President Joe Biden.

The president can remove commissioners only for neglect of duty or malfeasance. Maddox said the plaintiffs “have performed ably in their roles” and that the administration had not presented a justification for terminating them.

"The court finds it to be in the public interest to have the persons duly appointed to occupy these key leadership positions resume their roles," Maddox wrote.

The White House and Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The ruling can be appealed to the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

A lawyer for the commissioners, Nick Sansone, welcomed Maddox’s ruling in a statement.

“Congress structured the CPSC as an independent agency so that the safety of American consumers wouldn’t be subject to political whims and industry pressure,” Sansone said. “The court’s ruling upholds that sound legislative choice.”

The commission was founded in 1972 and tasked by Congress with shielding consumers from injury or death from defective or harmful products.

Trump has faced lawsuits over his efforts to remove members of other agencies.

In May, the U.S. Supreme Court said the administration could bar two Democratic members of federal labor boards from serving in their posts while they challenge their dismissal by the administration.

(Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)