An Unconstitutional Agency May Finally Meet Its End

A district court’s challenge to the structure of the NLRB could affect not just labor regulations but the administrative state as a whole.

Get ready for another major win for the Constitution and the separation of powers. Late last month, to little fanfare, a federal district court in Texas indicated that the National Labor Relations Act is unconstitutional, a finding that it will soon make official in a formal ruling. This case seems destined for the Supreme Court, giving the justices their biggest chance yet to roll back the out-of-control administrative state and restore the constitutional structure that upholds Americans’ freedoms.

This case — Space Exploration Technology Corporation v. NLRB et al. — is centered on the president’s authority to remove agency officials. Beginning in 2019, SpaceX found itself in the crosshairs of National Labor Relations Board general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo’s ongoing campaign against arbitration agreements. SpaceX, which requires employees to sign these agreements, soon faced a complaint by the NLRB, which claimed that the company was engaged in an unfair labor practice. SpaceX responded by arguing that the NLRB’s very existence was unconstitutional.