Supreme Court will weigh expanding Trump's power to shape agencies by overturning 90-year-old ruling

"The Supreme Court said Monday it will consider expanding President Donald Trump's power to shape independent agencies by overturning a nearly century-old decision limiting when presidents can fire board members. The justices have allowed the Republican president to carry out some high-profile firings while lawsuits play out, signaling the conservative majority is poised to overturn or narrow a 1935 Supreme Court decision that found commissioners can only be removed for misconduct or neglect of duty."

"The high court agreed to take up the case of Rebecca Slaughter, a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission who was reinstated by lower courts under a 90-year-old ruling known as Humphrey's Executor. In that case, the court sided with another FTC commissioner who was fired by Franklin D. Roosevelt as the president worked to implement the New Deal. The justices unanimously found commissioners can be removed only for misconduct or neglect of duty."

"The Justice Department argues Trump can fire board members for any reason as he works to carry out his agenda. The President and the government suffer irreparable harm when courts transfer even some of that executive power to officers beyond the President's control, Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote. Courts have no power to order reinstatement, only back pay, Sauer argued."

The Supreme Court agreed to review a case that could expand presidential authority to remove independent agency commissioners by revisiting the 1935 Humphrey's Executor precedent. Humphrey's Executor limited removal of commissioners to misconduct or neglect, enabling powerful independent agencies that regulate labor, discrimination and public airwaves. The case involves FTC member Rebecca Slaughter, who was reinstated by lower courts under that precedent after being ousted. The Justice Department contends the president may remove board members for any reason and that courts cannot order reinstatement, while Slaughter's attorneys warn that at-will removal would politicize regulatory decisions and undercut congressional choices.

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