The United States Supreme Court allows President Donald Trump, on Monday, to fire Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, a Biden-appointed Democrat Federal Trade Commission (FTC) commissioner.
The decision, issued in the form of an emergency order by Chief Justice John Roberts, temporarily clears the way for the Trump administration to exert broader authority over independent regulatory agencies while the case continues to wind its way through the courts.
The order effectively halts a lower court’s ruling that had reinstated Slaughter, who was first appointed by President Joe Biden and had resisted Trump’s removal earlier this year.
By siding with the president, at least temporarily, the high court has reopened a fundamental debate about executive power, democratic accountability, and the role of independent agencies in American government.
In March, President Trump fired both remaining Democrat commissioners at the FTC — Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya — in a move that marked a dramatic reshaping of the agency.
The FTC, tasked with protecting consumers, policing anticompetitive behavior, and enforcing antitrust laws, traditionally operates with a bipartisan slate of commissioners. Trump’s decision was justified, his team argued, by the president’s constitutional authority to remove executive branch officials in order to ensure accountability to voters.
“President Donald J. Trump is the head of the executive branch and is vested with all of the executive power in our government,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a statement at the time. “I have no doubts about his constitutional authority to remove Commissioners, which is necessary to ensure democratic accountability for our government. The Federal Trade Commission will continue its tireless work to protect consumers, lower prices, and police anticompetitive behavior.”
Ferguson, himself a Trump appointee, struck a diplomatic tone toward the ousted commissioners, adding: “I wish Commissioners Slaughter and Bedoya well, and I thank them for their service.”
Almost immediately after their removal, both Slaughter and Bedoya sued to regain their seats, arguing that independent commissioners cannot simply be removed at will by the president.
Their case hinged on a 1935 Supreme Court precedent, Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, which limited presidential removal powers over certain independent agency officials.
That ruling, issued during Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency, has long been cited to preserve the independence of agencies such as the FTC, the Federal Reserve, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In July, their legal battle appeared to pay off when U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan, a Biden appointee, ruled that Trump’s firing of Slaughter had been unlawful and ordered her reinstated. The Trump administration swiftly appealed.
US District Judge Loren AliKhan, a Biden appointee, said President Trump’s firing of Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, the Democrat FTC Commissioner, was illegal.
The Trump Administration promptly appealed the order.
On Tuesday, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, stacked with Obama judges, citing the century-old Supreme Court decision Humphrey’s Executor, ruled that Rebecca Slaughter can remain at her job after Trump fired her.
On Monday, Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts allowed President Trump to fire Slaughter while the case continues through the legal system.
NBC News reported “The Supreme Court on Monday allowed President Donald Trump to fire a member of the Federal Trade Commission despite a federal law that is intended to restrict the White House’s power to control the agency.”
The court, via an order issued by Chief Justice John Roberts, temporarily blocked a judge’s ruling that reinstated Rebecca Kelly Slaughter while the case continues.
The order did not definitively signal how the court would address an emergency request made by the Trump administration to give the president broader authority to fire independent agency members without cause, but signals that it would likely grant it.