A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., cleared the way for President Trump to fire members of the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board after district courts had earlier blocked their removals and ordered them reinstated.

Appeals court has paused a lower court ruling blocking the firing one-third of MSPB's central board, creating a crisis for the agency.

An appeals court ruled Friday that President Donald Trump can fire two board members of independent agencies handling labor issues from their respective posts in the federal government. A divided three-judge panel of the U.