Supreme Court to weigh Trump's firing of FTC member in test of presidential power

Source: Reuters

December 5, 2025 6:34 AM EST Updated 13 mins ago


WASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court next week weighs the legality of Donald Trump's firing of a Federal Trade Commission member in a major test of presidential power over agencies set up by Congress to be insulated from White House control in a case that could imperil a 90-year-old legal precedent.

The court hears arguments on Monday in the Justice Department's appeal of a lower court's decision that Trump exceeded his authority when he moved to dismiss Democratic FTC member Rebecca Slaughter in March before her term was set to expire. The case gives the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, an opportunity to overturn a New Deal-era Supreme Court precedent in a case called Humphrey's Executor v. United States that has shielded the heads of independent agencies from removal since 1935.

Such an outcome would be welcomed by proponents of a conservative legal doctrine called the "unitary executive" theory who see the president as possessing sole authority over the executive branch including the power to fire heads of independent agencies at will and pick their replacements.

Critics of this doctrine note that Congress enacted tenure-protected terms for independent agency heads to keep these offices free from political interference. Making such officials removable at the president's whim, they say, would threaten the regulatory stability relied upon by businesses, consumers and the American public.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/supreme-court-weigh-trumps-firing-ftc-member-test-presidential-power-2025-12-05/