Trump Fails in First Bid to Block Labor Board Member’s Return

The federal judge who reinstated fired NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox rejected the Trump administration’s bid to stay her order, though an appeals court will soon take up the issue.

The administration didn’t show an identifiable harm it would suffer if Wilcox is allowed continue serving on the National Labor Relations Board, Judge Beryl Howell, an Obama appointee to the US District Court for the District of Columbia, ruled Saturday.

“Plaintiff and the public, on the other hand, experience harm every day that she is not able to fulfill her statutory role and the NLRB is thus unable to function,” Howell said.

The administration said in court filings that it plans to petition the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to temporarily block Howell’s order while its full challenge to her decision proceeds.

The forthcoming DC Circuit stay request will likely go before the same motions panel that granted the administration’s bid to pause the district court order reinstating Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger, who was also fired by Trump. Dellinger dropped his appeal soon after.

But Howell noted that the administration’s success blocking Dellinger’s return doesn’t guarantee the same fate for Wilcox, as the legality of their respective firings are governed by different precedents.

Wilcox is represented by Gupta Wessler LLP.

The case is Wilcox v. Trump, D.D.C., No. 25-00334, 3/8/25.