Overview

• The Supreme Court issued an unsigned emergency order permitting President Trump to keep two independent agency members, Gwynne Wilcox and Cathy Harris, removed during ongoing legal challenges.
• The court’s majority reasoned that the Constitution grants the president authority to remove executive officers who exercise significant executive power on his behalf, barring narrow exceptions.
• The decision does not extend to the Federal Reserve, which the court described as a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity with distinct historical protections.
• The dissent, written by Justice Elena Kagan and joined by Justices Sotomayor and Jackson, criticized the majority for undermining the 1935 Humphrey’s Executor precedent, which protects agency independence.
• The removals have left both the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board without the quorums necessary to perform key functions, raising operational concerns.