Supreme Court Allows Trump To Fire Heads of Independent Agencies

The Supreme Court on Monday gave President Trump sweeping powers over agencies Congress set up with the intent to be independent.In a six-three decision in Trump v. Slaughter, the justices upheld Mr. Trump’s right to fire Rebecca Slaughter from the Federal Trade Commission and ruled presidents can fire agency heads at will. The court also overturned Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, a nearly 100-year-old decision that limited when presidents can fire board members at agencies. Humphrey’s Executor arose when President Franklin D. Roosevelt fired an FTC commissioner without specifying a cause for his removal, contrary to a statute permitting removal only for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” In Monday’s decision, the justices stated the framework of that decision has not withstood the test of time.“If anything more is left of Humphrey’s, the Court overrules it,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the Slaughter opinion.“Although it is up to the Senate to decide whether to confirm those with whom the President would prefer to work, neither Congress nor the courts may saddle him with those with whom he cannot work. Subordinates who exercise the President’s power are subject to removal by him. Then, and only then, can they remain accountable to the President, and the President to the people,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote.Justice Sonia Sotomayor delivered a dissent from the court’s three liberal justices. “Today, this Court undoes centuries of political practice and concludes that all three branches of Government have been acting in open defiance of the Constitution all this time. Its conclusion is wrong,” Justice Sotomayor wrote.Justice Sotomayor wrote that the court has previously made it clear that Congress may limit the causes for which the president removes the heads of commissions.The decision is a victory for proponents of the “unitary executive” theory, a vision of the Constitution that gives the president all the executive powers of the federal government. Mr. Trump celebrated the ruling. “To show the importance of the Slaughter Case, 90 years of precedent has been COMPLETELY AND UNEQUIVOCALLY OVERRULED, greatly increasing Presidential Power at a time when it is most needed!” Mr. Trump stated on Truth Social.Ms. Slaughter said in an interview on CNBC that she was “shocked” by the decision. In a separate decision Monday, Trump v. Cook, the justices did carve out special treatment for Federal Reserve governors. The court, in a 5-4 decision, blocked the firing of Governor Lisa Cook while she fights her firing over allegations of mortgage fraud.

Supreme Court Allows Trump To Fire Heads of Independent Agencies

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