Supreme Court Backs Trump’s FTC Firing of 1 Commissioner, Expanding Presidential Removal Power
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 12
Supreme Court Backs Trump’s FTC Firing of 1 Commissioner, Expanding Presidential Removal Power
2 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 12
Summary
Rebecca Kelly Slaughter said the court’s ruling upheld Trump’s March 2025 firing from the FTC and overturned a 91-year-old precedent that had limited a president’s ability to remove independent agency commissioners without cause.
March 18, 2025, Slaughter was told by email that her continued service was “inconsistent” with the president’s priorities; fellow Democratic commissioner Alvaro Bedoya was also dismissed and joined the legal challenge.
The case, Trump v Slaughter, centered on whether the FTC’s bipartisan, independent structure could shield commissioners from at-will removal while the agency pursued antitrust, privacy and consumer-protection cases.
Slaughter said she viewed the fight less as a personal dispute than as a test of protections for public servants and the independence of agencies meant to police business practices and keep prices down.