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On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump may remove Democratic Federal Trade Commission (FTC) commissioner Rebecca Slaughter without cause while her legal challenge to the termination proceeds.

Supreme Court Stay on FTC Commissioner’s Removal

In a 6–3 decision, the Court granted the Trump administration’s request for a stay, temporarily blocking rulings from the district court and the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that had ordered her reinstatement. As we previously discussed, both courts had ruled that Slaughter’s removal was unlawful under Humphrey’s Executor, which held that Congress could limit the president’s removal power by providing for-cause protections for commissioners at independent agencies such as the FTC.Continue Reading Supreme Court Stay Sets Stage for Reconsidering Humphrey’s Executor

Earlier this month, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled President Trump’s removal of Democrat commissioners from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was unlawful. In a 2-1 decision, the panel held that the case was squarely controlled by Supreme Court precedent in Humphrey’s Executor. The D.C. Circuit decision upheld the district court’s ruling in July and sets the stage for the Supreme Court to determine whether to uphold or overrule long-standing precedent regarding removal protections for “independent” executive agencies.

On Monday, Chief Justice John Roberts granted the Trump administration’s request  and stayed the D.C. Circuit’s decision pending further orders from Roberts or the Supreme Court, which effectively removes Rebecca Slaughter (again) from her role as an FTC commissioner. The stay order directs Slaughter to respond to the administration’s appeal by September 15. During her brief reinstatement, Slaughter dissented from several FTC actions.Continue Reading Legal Ping-Pong: D.C. Circuit Restores, Then Supreme Court Removes, Rebecca Slaughter as FTC Commissioner