President Donald Trump made headlines earlier this year when he fired a pair of Democratic appointees to two federal boards.

Although Trump's decision faced legal setbacks, a recent move by the Supreme Court could bring it one step closer to being vindicated. 

Lower courts order board members to be reinstated

As Fox News noted, Trump terminated National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member Gwynne Wilcox in January and Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) member Cathy Harris days later.

Both women successfully challenged their dismissal in separate lawsuits brought before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell oversaw Wilcox's case, and she wrote, "A President who touts an image of himself as a ‘king’ or a ‘dictator,’ perhaps as his vision of effective leadership, fundamentally misapprehends the role under Article II of the U.S. Constitution."

Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras wrote in Harris' lawsuit that if the president were to "displace independent agency heads from their positions for the length of litigation such as this, those officials’ independence would shatter."

Appeals court cites 1935 Supreme Court ruling

While the Trump administration appealed those cases to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, it ordered that Wilcox and Harris be reinstated.

That order came in the form of a seven-to-four opinion released on Monday, which cited Humphrey’s Executor and Wiener v. United States.

The 1935 Supreme Court case limits the ability of presidents to unilaterally remove those who serve on "multimember adjudicatory boards" such as the NLRB and MSPB.

"The Supreme Court has repeatedly told the courts of appeals to follow extant Supreme Court precedent unless and until that Court itself changes it or overturns it," Fox News quoted the majority opinion as reading.

Chief justice temporarily blocks reinstatement order

However, Fox News pointed out how the Trump administration immediately filed another appeal, with one with America's highest judicial body.

In what could be a sign of things to come, Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily halted the reinstatement of Wilcox and Harris on Wednesday while the matter is being litigated.

What's more, Fox News recalled how in February the Justice Department sent a letter to Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin arguing that Humphrey's Executor should be overturned.

"To the extent that Humphrey's Executor requires otherwise, the Department intends to urge the Supreme Court to overrule that decision, which prevents the President from adequately supervising principal officers in the Executive Branch who execute the laws on the President's behalf, and which has already been severely eroded by recent Supreme Court decisions," acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote.