Overview

• The Court granted full review of President Trump’s authority to remove FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and set arguments for December, keeping her out of office in the meantime.
• In a 6-3 order with a dissent by Justice Elena Kagan, the justices left lower-court reinstatement rulings on hold after Chief Justice John Roberts issued an earlier administrative stay on Sept. 8.
• The justices will consider whether to overturn the 1935 Humphrey’s Executor precedent and whether courts may order reinstatement of officials the president has removed.
• Lower courts, including the D.C. Circuit, had found Slaughter’s for-cause protection constitutional and ordered her reinstated before the Supreme Court intervened.
• The decision follows prior emergency orders allowing Trump’s removals at the NLRB, MSPB and CPSC to proceed during litigation, as the Solicitor General urges the Court to invalidate for-cause protections with broad implications for other agencies.