Overview
- During Dec. 8 arguments, the conservative majority questioned the durability of the 1935 Humphrey's Executor precedent that limits presidential removal of independent-agency officials.
- Trump fired Democratic FTC commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter in March despite a 1914 law allowing removal only for cause; lower courts ordered her reinstated, but the Supreme Court kept her out pending appeal.
- Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged the court to overturn Humphrey's and described independent agencies as a "headless fourth branch," as the three liberal justices warned of unchecked executive power.
- The court agreed to decide whether judges can order reinstatement after unlawful removals, a remedy question that could reshape how disputes over insulated agency posts are resolved.
- A separate challenge over Trump’s attempted removal of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook is set for argument in January, and a ruling in the Slaughter case is expected by June.