Alvin Brown, former Vice Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board and former mayor of Jacksonville, is suing the Trump administration alleging he was fired because of his race in violation of the Fifth Amendment. Democracy Forward filed the suit, which includes a parallel claim on behalf of Robert Primus, former chairman of the Surface Transportation Board.
The statistical evidence at the core of the lawsuit: approximately 75% of Black federal officials leading multimember independent agencies have been removed under Trump, compared to only approximately 27% of white officials at the same agencies.
The selective targeting is starkest within individual agencies. At the NTSB, two other Democrats were allowed to continue serving — one white Democratic member stayed even beyond the expiration of his term (end of 2023), while Brown, whose term ran through December 2026, was fired. Brown was the only Black member. His replacement, John DeLeeuw, is white and was confirmed by the Senate over Democratic objections in March 2026. At the Surface Transportation Board, the other Democratic member was allowed to stay while Primus — the only Black member — was removed.
The pattern extends across government. Gwynne Wilcox, the first Black woman in the 90-year history of the National Labor Relations Board, was fired via midnight email on January 27, 2025, with no cause given. A federal judge ruled her firing was unlawful. Black officials were also removed from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Federal Reserve, the Library of Congress, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The lawsuit alleges the firings fit “President Trump's consistent messaging criticizing diversity and inclusion and his clear and demonstrable emphasis on hiring white people.” The complaint notes that Trump has either nominated a non-Black individual to replace fired Black appointees or has not formally replaced them at all.
The White House responded that “the only factor guiding the Trump administration's personnel decisions is competence.” A federal court ruled in December 2025 that the racial discrimination claim could proceed.