The declined on Monday to hear a bid by , a Democratic-appointed member of the , to challenge the legality of her firing by .
The justices turned away Wilcox's appeal of a lower court ruling that said Trump's January 2025 firing of her was a valid exercise of executive authority.
The court's action follows its June decision backing Trump's firing of , a Democratic member. That ruling overturned the court's 1935 precedent in a case called , which had recognized the authority of Congress to protect leaders of certain regulatory agencies from presidential removal at will.
Wilcox, the first Black woman to serve on the agency's board, was appointed to a second five-year term in 2023 by Democratic former President . Trump moved to fire her about a week into his second presidential term, drawing a lawsuit by Wilcox. Slaughter also was a Biden appointee.
U.S. District Judge in March 2025 upheld a federal law protecting NLRB officials from being fired without cause, rejecting Trump's argument that the measure passed by Congress encroaches on authority granted to the president under the U.S. Constitution. That ruling was reversed in a 2-1 decision by the in December 2025, prompting Wilcox's appeal to the Supreme Court.
The legal fight over Trump's firing of Wilcox and other officials has figured as a key test of his efforts to bring federal agencies meant by Congress to be independent from the president under his control.