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Alvin Brown was appointed vice chairman of the NTSB but was later dismissed by Trump. He is filing a lawsuit against both Trump and the NTSB, claiming his dismissal was unlawful.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Former Jacksonville mayor Alvin Brown is taking legal action against the Trump administration after being removed from his role as vice chairman of the NTSB, according to documents that have just been made public.
Brown secured the position of vice chairman after being appointed by President Biden in December 2024, with his term set to run until Dec. 31, 2026. However, President Trump dismissed him on May 6.
Brown served as Jacksonville’s mayor from 2011 to 2015, and was the city’s first Black mayor. Before his time at the NTSB, Brown served as senior adviser for community infrastructure opportunities at the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Brown started his career as a senior member of the White House leadership team under former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, advising on a range of domestic issues.
He served as Gore’s senior advisor of urban policy, executive director of the White House Community Empowerment Board and was a senior adviser to former Commerce Secretary Ron Brown.
What the lawsuit says
In his lawsuit, which names Trump, Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board Jennifer Homendy, and the NTSB as a whole as defendants, Brown claims that his removal violated federal law.
The lawsuit says that Congress has not given the president the power to remove officials from the NTSB at will, except for in cases of “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”
He claims that there were therefore no grounds to remove him and that it was not legal. In the lawsuit, Brown points to the lack of explanation in the email removing him, which he says did not demonstrate any of these deficiencies.
Brown is asking that the United States District Court for D.C. rules that his removal was unlawful and asserts that he is still a member of the NTSB, due to having been appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. He is asking that the court affirm that he cannot be removed by the president in this case.
He is also asking that the court instruct Homendy and the NTSB not to block his access to his office and not to “treat (him) as having been removed.” Brown requests that NTSB employees provide him with access to the “necessary” government facilities and equipment so that he can carry out his duties with the NTSB.
A representative of the General Council’s Office at the NTSB said they had no more information to share at this time.
