The Justice Department issued a letter last week 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.”
According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the federal government employs administrative law judges to oversee laws and regulations across various sectors, including banking, antitrust, immigration, and interstate commerce. 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.”
Earlier in the week, Bondi shockingly revealed that the FBI’s New York field office was concealing crucial documents about Jeffrey Epstein.
In a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel, Bondi asked for immediate compliance and an investigation into how the FBI handled the case from within the agency.
This comes after earlier reports that the FBI may have been destroying Epstein-related documents in secret, which led to more rumors about corruption in the government and attempts to obstruct justice. Bondi wrote a harsh letter on Thursday saying that her office had only gotten a small part of the documents it had asked for about Epstein’s huge criminal enterprise.
“I repeatedly questioned whether this was the full set of documents responsive to my request and was repeatedly assured by the FBI that we had received the full set of documents,” Bondi wrote. “Late yesterday, I learned from a source that the FBI Field Office in New York was in possession of thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment of Epstein.”
“When you and I spoke yesterday, you were just as surprised as I was to learn this new information,” Bondi wrote to Patel.
She then issued a direct order: “By 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, February 28, the FBI will deliver the full and complete Epstein files to my office, including all records, documents, audio and video recordings, and materials related to Jeffrey Epstein and his clients.”
Bondi also asked for an immediate internal investigation into why the FBI didn’t follow through on previous requests. She also told the FBI to write a report on the matter within 14 days.
“I appreciate your immediate attention to this important matter. I know that we are both committed to transparency for the American people, and I look forward to continuing to work with you to serve our President and our country,” Bondi concluded.