The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed President Donald Trump a significant victory, ruling 6-3 that his dismissal of Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter was lawful and overturning a decades-old precedent that had limited presidential authority over independent federal agencies. Slaughter, whose term was set to run until 2029, sued the administration on the grounds that the Federal Trade Commission Act restricts presidential removals to instances of “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”
The decision in Trump v. Slaughter reversed a foundational 91-year-old legal precedent established in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States (1935), which had upheld congressional protections allowing FTC commissioners to be removed only for cause. Slaughter, a Democratic commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission, had been appointed by Trump in 2018 and later reappointed by former President Joe Biden in 2023. Trump removed Slaughter via email in March before her term was set to expire in 2029, stating that her retention was “inconsistent with [the] administration’s priorities.”
Writing for the conservative majority, Chief Justice John Roberts concluded that statutory limits preventing a president from firing such officials without cause violate the Separation of Powers Clause of the Constitution. Concluding that subordinates carrying out executive duties must remain accountable to the head of that branch, Roberts wrote that “What text, history, and structure settle, our precedent confirms—the President may remove his subordinates at will,” and added that “is contrary to the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented, arguing the ruling dismantles longstanding safeguards designed to preserve the independence of federal regulators and shifts substantial power to the White House.
While the ruling immediately impacts dozens of federal oversight boards, the high court notably drew a boundary for the nation’s central bank on the same day. In Trump v. Cook, the high court blocked Trump’s concurrent attempt to terminate Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, indicating that the Fed’s unique role in maintaining financial stability preserves its traditional independence.
The decision provoked starkly contrasting reactions from the opposing parties. Trump lauded the judicial outcome on Truth Social, declaring it a “BIG WIN just moments ago at the Supreme Court, in the Slaughter Case, confirming Presidential Power in our Country to remove Executive Branch Officers and Agency Appointees, or Representatives, under Article II. This Decision was long sought by United States Presidents, dating all the way back to the 1930s. It is such an Honor to be the sitting President who won this Historic and Unprecedented Ruling, one of the most important ever given with respect to Presidential Powers.”
Conversely, Slaughter voiced deep concerns over the broader institutional implications of the ruling. “I think it’s safe to say we’re profoundly disappointed about today’s decision,” Slaughter stated, adding, “I think it’s a really sad moment for the FTC, specifically an institution that I love dearly, but really institutions of government more generally, and the rule of law.”
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