WASHINGTON – On Sept. 8, the Supreme Court allowed President Donald Trump to temporarily remove a Biden-appointed member of the Federal Trade Commission, marking the latest clash over his power to dismiss officials at independent agencies without cause. Read More
Chief Justice John Roberts issued an administrative stay that pauses a lower court’s order blocking the removal. This gives the full court more time to review Trump’s arguments.
Earlier, on Sept. 2, a divided D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled that Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter could stay on the FTC while her legal challenge moves forward, citing the likelihood that she would ultimately prevail.
That decision relied on the Supreme Court’s 1935 ruling in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, which upheld limits on the president’s ability to fire FTC members without cause.
But the Justice Department countered that today’s FTC operates more like the National Labor Relations Board and other agencies that have not been shielded from Trump’s broad claims of executive authority.
Solicitor General John Sauer argued that lower courts had wrongly forced the reinstatement of a senior official with significant rulemaking and enforcement power—authority that Trump believes she should not wield.
The Supreme Court has asked Slaughter’s legal team to file a response to the administration’s appeal by Sept. 15.
