Supreme Court lets Trump fire FTC member, boosts presidential power

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that President Donald Trump has the authority to fire Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter.

6-3 decision It gives Trump and future presidents the authority to remove members of so-called independent federal agencies that serve under the executive branch of government.

The majority of all six conservative justices found that the FTC’s ruling that commissioners can be removed by a president only for cause “is contrary to the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.”

“Independent institutions are not that independent,” conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in his concurring opinion of the majority decision.

The decision effectively overturns a key Supreme Court precedent known as “Humphrey’s Guardian,” which protects members of independent institutions from impeachment by a president.

Trump called it a “BIG WIN” in his Truth Social post about the decision.

“This Resolution has long been sought by U.S. Presidents dating back to the 1930s,” Trump wrote. “It is a great honor to be the incumbent President who won this Historic and Unprecedented Decision, one of the most important decisions ever made in terms of Presidential Powers.”

Later at the White House, Trump was asked whether he expected to lay off more people as a result of the decision.

“I don’t think so,” Trump told reporters. “That gives me the right, not me. It gives the president the right to do what the president should have the right to do, and that’s very interesting. It’s a big decision.”

Slaughter said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” that he was “disappointed in the decision.”

“I think what matters is exactly what President Trump said: This is unprecedented, and it takes a huge amount of power from Congress and the president to shape economic decision-making in a way that rewards the rich and powerful and at the expense of ordinary Americans.”

Slaughter said FTC policy will “arguably” become more political as a result of the decision.

“And it’s not even just a political issue,” he said. “The problem is that this has turned into something that rewards the president’s political and campaign contributions, his friends and allies, rather than decisions made on the merits.”

Slaughter added: “And for honest businesses, that must be very worrying.”

In March 2025, Trump fired Slaughter and fellow Democratic commissioner Alvaro Bedoya without giving reason, instead saying it would be inconsistent with his administration’s priorities if they remained at the FTC.

Slaughter and Bedoya later sued Trump, demanding reinstatement. However, Bedoya resigned from the FTC in June 2025 and dropped his case while Slaughter’s case was ongoing.

“The President may remove subordinates at any time,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his majority opinion Monday.

“The FTC unquestionably exercises executive authority and therefore must be controlled by the Chief Executive Officer,” Roberts said.

But the chief justice also made clear the possibility of immunity for Federal Reserve members from being fired by a president.

Trump tried to fire Fed Chair Lisa Cook last year. But in a separate ruling Monday, the Supreme Court said he could remain in office pending the outcome of his termination case, which will be heard in federal district court.

The Supreme Court has not ruled on whether the president has the authority to remove Cook or any other Fed board member.

“Our opinion [in Slaughter’s case] Today should not be read as affecting the structure of the Federal Reserve, Roberts wrote.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a liberal judge, criticized the Slaughter decision in a harsh dissent, saying “perhaps worst of all, the Court is forgetting its place today” and that “the majority is reshaping our Government.”

“Today, this Court is dismantling centuries of political practice,” Sotomayor wrote.

“The Court grants the President a power unknown even to the British Crown against whom the Founders rebelled,” he wrote. “This case should have begun and ended with the unanimous decision of this Court almost a century ago: Humphrey’s Executor.”

In another Truth Social post about the decision, Trump wrote: “To demonstrate the importance of the Massacre Case, 90 years of precedent has been COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY REJECTED, greatly increasing Presidential Power at a time when it is needed most!”

“The Supreme Court overturned well-established precedent to green light Donald Trump’s threats to independent federal agencies,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in a statement.

“Now this President can fire anyone he sees as his enemy in these organizations without justification,” said Durbin, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“This decision is an affront to good governance and the goal of ‘independent’ federal institutions above all else.”