(Reuters) -The U.S. National Labor Relations Board told a Texas federal judge that it will suspend an administrative case accusing SpaceX of illegally firing engineers critical of CEO Elon Musk while the rocket maker pursues a lawsuit challenging the agency's structure.

The labor board in a filing in Brownsville, Texas federal court late Thursday said that halting the underlying case against SpaceX will expedite a final ruling on the company's claims that the agency's in-house enforcement proceedings violate the U.S. Constitution.

The board said it does not agree with SpaceX's claim that pausing the administrative case is appropriate, but it was agreeing to do so "in the interest of conserving scarce judicial resources (and) avoiding unnecessary expense and delay."