Overview
- During Dec. 8 oral arguments, several conservative justices suggested the 1935 Humphrey’s Executor precedent no longer fits today’s administrative state, with Chief Justice John Roberts calling it a “dried husk.”
- The case arises from President Trump’s March removal of FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, which lower courts blocked before the Supreme Court let the ouster take effect in September while taking the case.
- Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged the Court to overrule Humphrey’s Executor, advancing a unitary-executive view that presidents must be able to dismiss independent-agency officials at will.
- The justices are also weighing the scope of judicial remedies, including whether courts may order reinstatement of unlawfully removed officials or limit relief to measures like back pay.
- A decision expected by June could reshape oversight of more than two dozen agencies, with a related challenge over Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook set for argument on Jan. 21.