A US federal appeal court on Monday blocked President Donald Trump from removing Democratic members from two federal labour boards, setting aside its earlier ruling.

The decision by the US Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia Circuit is said to have further complicated a pair of cases that are emerging as key tests of Trump’s efforts to bring under his control agencies meant to be independent from the White House.

The full DC Circuit in a 7-4 decision set aside a three-judge panel’s March ruling that paused lower court decisions blocking Trump from removing Gwynne Wilcox from the National Labor Relations Board and Cathy Harris from the Merit Systems Protection Board.

The decision on Monday puts back in place two judges’ decisions that upheld federal laws barring the president from removing members of the labor boards at will.

At the time of filing this report, the White House and lawyers for Wilcox and Harris have not made any comment on the development.