Overview
- During Dec. 8 arguments, Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged the justices to permit at‑will removal of FTC commissioners by overruling the 1935 Humphrey’s Executor precedent.
- Chief Justice John Roberts called Humphrey’s a "dried husk" and suggested today’s FTC wields executive power unlike the agency the Court considered in 1935.
- Several justices, including Brett Kavanaugh, questioned how a ruling for the administration would affect other independent regulators, notably the Federal Reserve.
- Lower courts found Rebecca Slaughter’s removal unlawful and ordered her reinstated, but Roberts stayed that relief and she remains out of office pending the Supreme Court’s decision.
- News outlets report the Court may favor the administration, though the outcome remains undecided and a ruling is expected later in the term.