Trump Judge Sides With Employer Arguing Labor Board Is Unconstitutional

A federal judge in Texas just handed a court victory to an employer who’s arguing that a key labor rights agency is unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman of the Northern District of Texas granted a temporary injunction Monday preventing the agency, the National Labor Relations Board, from moving forward with union-busting charges against the employer, Texas-based Findhelp.

Pittman, who was appointed to the bench by former President Donald Trump, wrote in his order that Findhelp is likely to prevail in its argument that the NLRB’s structure violates the constitution.

“The Court [is] unpersuaded by the NLRB’s arguments,” Pittman wrote.

The NLRB was established as part of the New Deal and enforces collective-bargaining rights in the private sector. Findhelp, a tech startup that says it aims to “modernize” America’s social safety net , is one of several employers that has claimed the NLRB is unconstitutional after the agency brought cases against them.

Unions and labor rights advocates have described such arguments as extreme and dangerous, saying they threaten the labor board’s mission of protecting workers who try to organize. But Pittman’s order granting Findhelp’s request for an injunction shows again that the idea has currency among conservative judges. (The right-wing Federalist Society lists Pittman as a founding member of its Fort Worth chapter.)

Elon Musk’s aerospace company, SpaceX, is pursuing its own lawsuit arguing the NLRB’s structure is unconstitutional. SpaceX won a temporary injunction in that case from a different Texas judge who was appointed by Trump.

The injunctions stop the NLRB cases against SpaceX and Findhelp until the cases revolving around questions of constitutionality are