The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily allowed President Donald Trump to remove Rebecca Slaughter, a Democratic commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), while the Court considers the legality of her dismissal. Full arguments are scheduled for December to determine whether long-standing protections that limit the president’s ability to fire independent agency officials without cause still apply.
Slaughter was terminated in March along with another Democratic FTC commissioner. Lower courts had ordered her reinstatement, citing laws that shield FTC officials from arbitrary removal. However, the Supreme Court’s temporary block allows the president’s action to stand until the case is fully heard.
The central issue is whether the nearly 90-year-old precedent set by Humphrey’s Executor v. United States should continue to prevent presidents from firing independent agency officials over policy or ideological disagreements rather than for cause, such as misconduct or neglect of duty. The Trump administration contends that the FTC’s powers today far exceed those when the precedent was established, and that removal protections should be reconsidered.
Justice Elena Kagan, joined by Justices Sotomayor and Jackson, dissented. They argued that loosening these protections could weaken the independence and bipartisanship of agencies designed to operate free from political pressure.
The Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case could reshape presidential authority over independent regulatory agencies. Its implications extend beyond the FTC, potentially affecting agencies like the National Labor Relations Board, the Merit Systems Protection Board, and others.
