Supreme Court Rules President Can Fire Independent Agency Heads at Will
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Monday that removal protections for members of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are unconstitutional. The decision in Trump v. Slaughter overturns a 90-year-old precedent, Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, which previously allowed Congress to shield members of independent agencies from being fired by the president except for cause.
Writing for the conservative majority, Chief Justice John Roberts stated that limits on the president’s ability to remove officials who wield executive power infringe upon his constitutional authority. Roberts argued that subordinates exercising presidential power must be subject to removal by the president to ensure accountability. “Neither Congress nor the courts may saddle him with those with whom he cannot work,” Roberts wrote.
The ruling is expected to have broad implications, as Congress has established more than two dozen multi-member agencies—including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the National Labor Relations Board—with similar “for-cause” removal protections. Such protections typically limit presidential firing power to instances of inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance.
In a dissent joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned that the decision fundamentally reshapes the federal government. “Dozens of independent commissions are now likely to become purely executive agencies, shifting tremendous power over broad swaths of American life into the President’s hands,” Sotomayor wrote.
The case stemmed from President Trump’s firing of Rebecca Slaughter, an FTC commissioner reappointed by President Joe Biden. Slaughter was terminated in March 2025 after being told her service was “inconsistent” with the administration’s priorities. While lower courts initially ordered her reinstatement, the Supreme Court allowed her firing to proceed last September pending the final ruling. President Trump praised the decision, calling it the “Greatest Increase in Presidential Power in the last 100 years.”
While the court has cleared the way for the removal of members from agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board, it has not yet ruled on the status of all officials. Litigation remains ongoing for others, including Lisa Cook of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors and Shira Perlmutter, the register of copyrights. The Supreme Court has previously indicated it may view the Federal Reserve differently than other independent agencies.
