The US Supreme Court on Wednesday granted President Donald Trump’s request to stay a lower court order that would have prevented him from firing three Democratic members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission without cause.

The order allows Trump to immediately terminate commissioners Mary Boyle, Alexander Hoehn-Saric, and Richard Trumka Jr., whom he removed in May amid broader efforts to reduce the size of federal government. The opinion cited their earlier decision in Trump v. Wilcox, which permitted similar removals at the National Labor Relations Board.

The three commissioners sued in Maryland federal court after receiving termination emails in May, arguing federal law requires commissioners be removed only for “neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.” A district judge had blocked their removals in June.

Established by Congress in 1972, the Consumer Product Safety Commission oversees safety standards for consumer products from toys to appliances. Commissioners serve staggered seven-year terms and traditionally could only be fired for cause, ensuring the agency’s independence from political influence.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a separate concurrence that the court should have granted full review of the case rather than just issuing a stay, given the constitutional questions at stake.

Justice Elena Kagan dissented, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Kagan accused the majority of effectively overturning the 1935 precedent Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, which established Congress’s authority to create independent agencies.

“Once again, this Court uses its emergency docket to destroy the independence of an independent agency, as established by Congress,” Kagan wrote.

The ruling represents the latest expansion of presidential removal power under the current court, following similar decisions affecting other independent agencies this year.