Key Takeaways:
- Major Constitutional Test: The Supreme Court will hear arguments in December on overturning a 1935 precedent that limited presidents’ ability to fire independent agency heads.
- Immediate Victory for Trump: In a 6-3 decision, the Court allowed President Trump to remove Democratic FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter while the case moves forward.
- Accountability vs. Bureaucracy: Conservatives argue agencies must answer to elected leadership, while liberals warn unchecked executive power could politicize regulatory decisions.
The Supreme Court signaled Monday that President Donald Trump could soon gain broader authority to rein in the sprawling alphabet soup of federal “independent” agencies that have long operated beyond direct presidential control.
In a 6-3 decision, the Court allowed Trump to fire Rebecca Slaughter, a Democratic commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission, while the broader case plays out. The justices will hear arguments in December on whether to overturn a 1935 ruling, Humphrey’s Executor, which gave unelected bureaucrats job protections even when obstructing a president’s agenda.
That precedent fueled the explosion of powerful boards like the FTC, the National Labor Relations Board, and others that regulate everything from labor disputes to the airwaves. For decades, conservatives have argued these agencies represent an unconstitutional “fourth branch” of government—unaccountable, insulated, and often hostile to free enterprise.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer was blunt: “The President and the government suffer irreparable harm when courts transfer even some of that executive power to officers beyond the President’s control.” Justice Neil Gorsuch echoed the point, noting that fired officials might get back pay, but not a court-ordered return to power.
Predictably, the liberal justices dissented. Justice Elena Kagan warned that presidential control would politicize regulatory decisions. But the reality is this: accountability to the American people requires accountability to the president they elect.
If the Court strikes down Humphrey’s Executor, Trump would finally have the power to clean house, streamline Washington, and return decision-making closer to the voters who put him in office.