The Justice Department issued a letter on Thursday stating that it has determined many removal restrictions for administrative law judges to be unconstitutional.
The decision follows growing frustration within the Trump administration over judicial roadblocks to its executive actions.
In the letter, acting U.S. Solicitor General Sarah Harris informed President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley (R-IA) that the Justice Department “has concluded that the multiple layers of removal restrictions for administrative law judges” violate the U.S. Constitution, the Western Journal reported.
The letter means the administration “will no longer defend” the removal restrictions in court or in litigation.
Today, the Department of Justice determined that multiple layers of removal restrictions shielding administrative law judges (ALJs) are unconstitutional. pic.twitter.com/lcfPskwkQq
— Chad Mizelle (@ChadMizelle47) February 21, 2025
For reference, Harris cited a 2010 decision from the Supreme Court, which said that granting “multilayer protection from removal” to executive officers “is contrary to Article II’s vesting of the executive power in the President.”
The Department of Justice also argues that the federal law limiting the dismissal of administrative law judges to cases of “good cause” violates Article II of the Constitution. That federal statute limits “the President’s ability to remove principal executive officers, who are in turn restricted in their ability to remove inferior executive officers.”
The federal government employs administrative law judges to oversee laws and regulations across various sectors, including banking, antitrust, immigration, and interstate commerce, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. These judges differ from Article III federal judges, who preside over federal courts and hold positions explicitly recognized by the Constitution.
In recent years, the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that federal agencies lack the broad regulatory authority they have long asserted, as noted in a Reuters report.
One such ruling found that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s use of in-house administrative law judges to adjudicate enforcement actions was unconstitutional.
Chad Mizelle, chief of staff for Attorney General Pam Bondi, shared a copy of the letter on X and told The New York Times that the administration is taking the necessary steps to challenge the “unelected and constitutionally unaccountable” administrative law judges.
“In accordance with Supreme Court precedent, the department is restoring constitutional accountability so that executive branch officials answer to the president and to the people,” he added.
Mizelle said that the administrative law judges have “exercised immense power for far too long.”
Bondi also shook up ‘official’ Washington on Friday when she announced that she has a Jeffrey Epstein’s client list.
The late Epstein was made infamous after a scandal that showed the financier was responsible for the human trafficking of minors while dealing with some of the most powerful, rich, and influential people in Hollywood and Washington, DC.
Since his death in prison, which was officially listed as a suicide, many have wondered which names appear on his secret client list. On Friday, Bondi said that the list was in her possession.
“It’s sitting on my desk right now to review,” she told Fox News’ “America Reports” co-anchor John Roberts. “That’s been a directive by President Trump.”
She also said that she is reviewing the files on the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“That’s all in the process of being reviewed because that was done at the directive of the president from all of these agencies,” she said.
🚨 FOX: “The DOJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients. Will that really happen?”@AGPamBondi: “It’s sitting on my desk right now to review. That’s been a directive by President Trump.” pic.twitter.com/9J925rSx6v
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 21, 2025
During an interview at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week, Bondi told conservative influencer and podcaster Benny Johnson that President Trump “has given a very strong directive, and that’s going to be followed.”
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
