{"id":392,"date":"2026-06-30T15:13:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T15:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=392"},"modified":"2026-06-30T15:13:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T15:13:24","slug":"president-can-fire-independent-agency-heads-without-cause-supreme-court-rules-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=392","title":{"rendered":"President can fire independent agency heads without cause, Supreme Court rules"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Supreme Court on Monday overturned a nearly 100-year-old legal precedent, which is expected to enable the president to fire bipartisan board members of agencies that were established by Congress to have some degree of independence from the White House.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more President can fire independent agency heads without cause, Supreme Court rules<\/a><\/p>\n

The case began in March 2025 when President Donald Trump removed two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission before the end of their terms. The FTC is led by five commissioners; no more than three can be from the same party.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shortly thereafter, the ousted Democratic officials \u2014\u00a0Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter \u2014 filed a lawsuit, arguing that, under current law, the president can only remove an FTC commissioner \u201cfor inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.\u201d They also cited the 1935 Supreme Court case Humphrey\u2019s Executor v. United States, in which the justices determined that dismissing an FTC member for differences in policy is unconstitutional.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During before the Supreme Court in December 2025, however, the Trump administration contended that Humphrey\u2019s Executor \u201cmust be overruled,\u201d contending that it shields independent regulatory agencies from oversight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c[Humphrey\u2019s] continues to tempt Congress to erect at the heart of our government a headless fourth branch insulated from political accountability and democratic control,\u201d said Solicitor General D. John Sauer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court sided, 6-3, with the White House.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe FTC unquestionably exercises executive power, and must therefore be controlled by the chief executive, in whom such power is vested,\u201d wrote Chief Justice John Roberts in the . \u201cIt follows, then, that Slaughter served as the president\u2019s subordinate at the FTC \u2014 and that the president was entitled to cut her tenure short.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The court\u2019s decision in Trump v. Slaughter is expected to apply to other lawsuits filed by leaders of independent agencies fired by the president, including Democrat Cathy Harris of the Merit Systems Protection Board. That agency \u2014 which is led by a three-person board, no more than two of whom can be from the same political party \u2014 adjudicates federal employees\u2019 appeals of adverse personnel actions. Many government workers who have been impacted by the Trump administration\u2019s downsizing of the civil service have pursued claims through the MSPB.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more One federal research network got a reprieve. Others may not<\/a><\/p>\n

Former Federal Labor Relations Authority Chairwoman Susan Tsui Grundmann similarly challenged her 2025 firing, but her term at the agency expired in January, rendering her lawsuit moot.<\/p>\n

In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the decision \u201creshapes our government.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200b\u200bDozens of independent commissions are now likely to become purely executive agencies, shifting tremendous power over broad swaths of American life into the president\u2019s hands,\u201d she wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since the start of his second term, Trump has fired or attempted to fire 20 board or commission members who have \u201cfor-cause\u201d protections from removal, according to an April report by the Partnership for Public Service nonprofit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In February 2025, the president also signed an executive order to exert more White House control over regulations from independent agencies.<\/p>\n

Read more Pentagon launches \u2018War Force\u2019 initiative to onboard tech talent<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a dissent that the decision \u201creshapes our government.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-management"],"yoast_head":"\nPresident can fire independent agency heads without cause, Supreme Court rules - Market Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=392\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"President can fire independent agency heads without cause, Supreme Court rules - Market Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a dissent that the decision \u201creshapes our government.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=392\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Market Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-30T15:13:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=392#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=392\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19c060c848a41baec5bd9c5b313f46d9\"},\"headline\":\"President can fire independent agency heads without cause, Supreme Court rules\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-30T15:13:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=392\"},\"wordCount\":525,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=392#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/08a400d2633fbb759e9da3268954a621.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Management\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=392#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=392\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=392\",\"name\":\"President can fire independent agency heads without cause, Supreme Court rules - 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