National Mediation Board (NMB) member and Democrat Deirdre Hamilton has sued to regain her post following her Oct. 14, 2025, firing by POTUS 47—one of many legally questionable independent federal regulatory agency firings by the President, all of which are now before federal courts. Hamilton’s lawsuit was filed Feb. 2 in Federal District Court for the District of Columbia.
Named as defendants in the Hamilton lawsuit, along with the President, are White House Personnel Office Director Daniel Scavino, Scavino advisor Mary Sprowls, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (responsible for restoring Hamilton’s pay and benefits should her lawsuit succeed), and NMB Chairperson and Republican Loren E. Sweatt.
Hamilton contends her firing unlawful, as the NMB’s statute provides that a member serve until their Presidentially nominated successor is Senate confirmed; and that an NMB member otherwise may be removed from office only “for inefficiency, neglect of duty, malfeasance in office, or ineligibility, but for no other cause.”
Hamilton, who began her first term in January 2022, was nominated by President Biden in 2021 and Senate confirmed Dec. 7, 2021. Although that term expired June 30, 2025, the President had not nominated a successor. On Oct. 8, 2025, Hamilton received a one-sentence email from Sprowls, “On behalf of [the President] I am writing to inform you that your post as a member of the National Mediation Board is terminated, effective immediately.”
In her lawsuit, Hamilton contends that firing “disregarded” the clear statutory language limiting her removal to cause or Senate confirmation of a successor. She asks the court to declare the termination unlawful and for Bessent to pay her lost wages and benefits.
Since Hamilton’s departure, the three-member NMB has been functioning with Republican Sweatt and Democrat Linda Puchala. The POTUS still has not nominated a Hamilton successor.
Separate lawsuits challenging termination have been filed by members of other independent federal agencies, including Surface Transportation Board (STB) member and Democrat Robert E. Primus, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member and Democrat Alvin Brown, and Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Each of those agency statutes similarly limit termination for cause.
While Primus’ and Browns’ lawsuits are pending, the FTC- and NLRB-terminated Democrats have been granted injunctive relief by a federal district court, nullifying the firings, but the decisions have been appealed. Finality is expected only following Supreme Court review of at least one of the challenges.
Primus, who was in the midst of a second term expiring Dec. 31, 2027, was fired by the POTUS Aug. 27. In addition to the challenging the legality of the firing, Primus alleges racial discrimination.
A separate POTUS 47 firing of Federal Reserve Board member and Democrat Lisa Cook already is before the Supreme Court, with a decision expected before summer. The facts of that termination differ from the cases of Hamilton, Primus, Brown, and the FTC- and NLRB-terminated members. Cook, whom the Supreme Court has allowed to continue serving on the Federal Reserve Board, is alleged to have committed a crime of mortgage fraud prior to her becoming a Federal Reserve Board member.
