A Black former National Transportation Safety Board member fired by President Donald Trump argues in a new lawsuit that race discrimination shaped the administration’s termination of officials at independent agencies.
Alvin Brown, a Democrat nominated by former President Joe Biden, said political differences alone couldn’t account for his abrupt discharge in May 2025, according to a complaint filed Tuesday in the US District Court of the District of Columbia. Brown’s attorneys say 75% of Black officials at independent agencies have been fired under Trump.
Brown’s claim under the Fifth Amendment adds a new dimension to the legal war over Trump’s mass firing of independent agency heads, which until now had centered on the president’s constitutional authority. The US Supreme Court is currently weighing executive power in a case involving the termination of former Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter.
“Mr. Brown’s removal from the NTSB cannot be explained by the fact that Mr. Brown is a Democrat and President Trump might have wanted to exert Republican control over the Board,” his lawyers wrote. “At the time of Mr. Brown’s removal from the NTSB, there were two other Democrats serving on the Board.”
Trump has removed non-White leaders at the National Labor Relations Board, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Federal Reserve, Library of Congress, and others. Brown’s attorneys pointed to Trump’s frequent criticism of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs as evidence that race played a key role. Brown was replaced by a White man.
“President Trump has removed Black Senate-confirmed appointees; he has either nominated a non-Black individual for their replacement or has not formally replaced them at all,” Brown’s lawyers wrote. “This trend fits with President Trump’s consistent messaging criticizing diversity and inclusion and his clear and demonstrable emphasis.”
Democracy Forward Foundation represents Brown. An NTSB representative wasn’t immediately available for comment.
The case is Brown v. DeLeeuw, D.D.C., No. 1:26-cv-01249, petition filed 4/14/26.
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