Filed Date: June 4, 2025
Case Ongoing
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This case challenged the removal of a member of the National Transportation Safety Board. The board member, Alvin Brown, filed suit on June 4, 2025, in the District Court for the District of Columbia. Mr. Brown had been appointed to the board by President Biden in 2022 and confirmed by the Senate in 2023. The members are appointed for five-year terms and are removable by the President only for "inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office." On May 5, 2025, Mr. Brown received a brief email from Trent Morse, the Deputy Director of Presidential Personnel of the White House, announcing that his position on the board was terminated, effective immediately. The email stated no grounds for the termination.
Represented by public interest counsel from the Democracy Forward Foundation and Justice Legal Strategies PLLC, the plaintiff alleged that the termination was ultra vires, in violation of the Independent Safety Act of 1974, which lays out the conditions on which a board member may be removed by the President. The plaintiff asked the court to declare his removal unlawful, to enjoin the board from blocking his access to the office or from treating him as removed, and to issue a writ of mandamus directing the board to provide him with any needed access to government facilities and equipment.
The case was assigned to District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich.
The case is ongoing.
Summary Authors
Jeremiah Price (6/12/2025)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70456247/parties/brown-v-trump/
Friedrich, Dabney Langhorne (District of Columbia)
Goldstein, Elena (District of Columbia)
Greenbaum, Jon M. (District of Columbia)
Liao, Cynthia (District of Columbia)
Newman, Jeremy Samuel (District of Columbia)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70456247/brown-v-trump/
Last updated Aug. 21, 2025, 2:43 p.m.
State / Territory: District of Columbia
Case Type(s):
Presidential/Gubernatorial Authority
Special Collection(s):
Trump Administration 2.0: Challenges to the Government
Trump Administration 2.0: Challenges to the Government (Appointments/Civil Service)
Key Dates
Filing Date: June 4, 2025
Case Ongoing: Yes
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
A former member of the National Transportation Safety Board.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Attorney Organizations:
Public Interest Lawyer: Yes
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
President Trump (- United States (national) -), Federal
National Transportation Safety Board (- United States (national) -), Federal
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Ex Parte Young (Federal) or Bivens
Ex parte Young (federal or state officials)
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: None Yet / None
Nature of Relief:
Source of Relief:
Issues
Presidential/Gubernatorial Authority: