"Could the president decide that he wasn't going to appoint or allow to remain in office any female heads of agencies or any heads over 40 years old?"
"I think that that would be within the president's constitutional authority under the removal power,"
"There would be separate questions about whether that would violate other provisions of the Constitution."
"What about the over 40 part? All you need is a rational basis under the Constitution. Is 'I desire to exercise my removal power' a rational basis?"
A Justice Department lawyer told a D.C. Circuit panel that the presidential removal power could allow dismissing federal officials, potentially including all women and those over 40. The exchange arose during appeals of President Trump’s removals of MSPB member Cathy Harris and NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox, both Biden nominees; Wilcox was the first NLRB member removed by a president and the board’s first Black woman. Two district judges found the firings unlawful and the administration appealed. Appellate judges raised constitutional questions, including potential 14th Amendment concerns and whether a president’s desire to exercise removal power meets rational-basis review.
Read at LGBTQ Nation
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