US Chief Justice John Roberts let President Donald Trump temporarily oust a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission, signaling that the Supreme Court is likely to back Trump’s bid to assert control over the independent agency.
Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, the FTC’s only Democrat, had briefly returned to her job after a federal appeals court ruling in her favor last week. Roberts’ order, which came with no explanation, nullifies that decision at least until the full Supreme Court decides how to handle the case.
Roberts set a Sept. 15 deadline for Slaughter’s lawyers to respond to the Justice Department’s request to keep the commissioner out of her job longer-term while the legal fight over the merits plays out.
The administration is asking the high court to grant full review and consider overturning the 1935 precedent that let Congress set up independent agencies and shield their leaders from being fired. That Supreme Court ruling, known as Humphrey’s Executor, stemmed from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s firing of a Republican FTC commissioner.
The FTC and Slaughter did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The clash coincides with Trump’s effort to push out Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook for alleged mortgage fraud, a dispute that raises different legal issues. In the FTC case, Trump contends he has the constitutional right to fire Slaughter for any reason.
Trump sought to remove Slaughter from her position in March. She sued, arguing that her ouster flouted the FTC Act, which says a president can remove commissioners only for cause, such as inefficiency or neglect of duty. A federal judge in Washington ruled in her favor in July, and her status has been in limbo ever since.
The conservative-majority Supreme Court has chipped away at Humphrey’s Executor in recent years, saying that powerful executive branch officials have to be accountable to the president.
In May, the Supreme Court let Trump remove members of the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board. That decision, which came over dissents from the court’s three liberals, followed a similar temporary order from Roberts.
The court suggested in the NLRB and MSPB case that Trump’s power wouldn’t extend to firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for any reason. As with Cook, Powell could be removed for cause.
Defenders of Humphrey’s Executor say the Constitution gives Congress the flexibility to create agencies that rely on expert leadership and are independent from the White House.
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