Earlier this week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia affirmed the President’s constitutional authority under Article II to remove appointed officials.

U.S. District Court for D.C. Affirms President Trump’s Removal Powers Following America First Legal’s Brief Defending Presidential Removal Power

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Earlier this week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia affirmed the President’s constitutional authority under Article II to remove appointed officials. This opinion came after America First Legal (AFL), in partnership with Boyden Gray PLLC and Givens Purley LLP, filed an amicus brief in Robert P. Storch v. Pete Hegseth to support former Inspector General (IG) of the U.S. Department of Transportation Eric J. Soskin, who was himself removed by President Trump, and who defended presidential removal power even in his own case.


Eric Soskin is a longtime practicing constitutional lawyer with decades of experience in public service, including in the U.S. Department of Justice and as Inspector General of the Department of Transportation. Despite being removed from his position by President Trump, Soskin urged the Court to recognize that the U.S. Constitution clearly vests removal power in the president. AFL’s brief argued on his behalf that the principal at stake is bigger than any individual: the president must be free to select and remove officials to ensure accountability in the executive branch. Without that, an energetic presidency becomes impossible, accountability vanishes, and separation of powers is forsaken.


The Court’s ruling is another decisive victory for presidential authority, confirming what AFL has long argued: the U.S. Constitution vests removal power in the President, not unelected bureaucrats or the judiciary. Attempts to stretch the Inspector General statute into a shield for entrenched officials also collapsed under scrutiny. The Court dismissed the plaintiffs’ claim of “irreparable harm,” making clear that a missed 30-day notice period does not constitute an extraordinary circumstance that justifies stripping the President of his constitutional prerogatives.


“When Congress chooses to create agencies whose heads are subject to presidential appointment, the President has a unilateral right to remove those officers. This ruling reaffirms the authority of the President and rejects remedies that encumber presidential authority. AFL will continue to defend the separation of powers and the rule of law,” said Dan Epstein, Vice President of America First Legal. 


America First Legal will never stop defending the Constitution, the separation of powers, and the President’s ability to carry out the duties entrusted to him by the American people. This case, and Eric Soskin’s willingness to defend the principle even after his own removal, underscore the importance of that commitment.


Read the opinion here.


Read more about the case here.



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