Supreme Court Temporarily Allows Trump to Remove FTC Commissioner, Challenging 90-Year Precedent

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Monday, September 8, 2025, temporarily allowed former President Donald Trump to remove Democratic Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, pausing a lower court's order that had reinstated her. This administrative stay signals a potential shift in the balance of power between the presidency and independent federal agencies, directly challenging a nearly 90-year-old legal precedent.

The development was quickly disseminated, with outlets like The Post Millennial reporting, "> BREAKING: Supreme Court allows Trump to fire Dem FTC commissioner." This action by Chief Justice John Roberts gives the high court additional time to consider the Trump administration's emergency request regarding the firing.

The case centers on the president's authority to dismiss officials from independent agencies without cause, a power traditionally limited by the 1935 Supreme Court ruling in Humphrey's Executor v. United States. That landmark decision established that presidents could only remove commissioners of quasi-legislative or quasi-judicial bodies like the FTC for reasons such as "inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office."

Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, who was first appointed to the FTC by Trump in 2018 and reappointed by President Joe Biden, had challenged her dismissal in court. Lower courts had sided with Slaughter, citing the Humphrey's Executor precedent, and ordered her reinstatement.

The Trump administration argues that the modern FTC wields far more substantial executive power than its 1935 counterpart, asserting that removal restrictions unlawfully impede the president's constitutional authority under Article II to control the executive branch. This legal stance aligns with the Supreme Court's recent skepticism toward the independence of federal agencies, having allowed Trump to remove members of other independent boards in similar temporary orders.

Slaughter has vowed to continue her legal fight, stating, "In the week I was back at the FTC it became even more clear to me that we desperately need the transparency and accountability Congress intended to have at bipartisan independent agencies." The Supreme Court's current action does not represent a final ruling on the merits of the case, but it indicates a significant willingness to reconsider long-standing protections for agency independence. The ultimate decision could reshape the operational landscape for regulatory bodies across the federal government.