By allowing President Trump to fire the last Democratic FTC commissioner pending a December hearing, the Supreme Court appears poised to overturn the 1935 Humphrey’s Executor precedent. That would let presidents remove commissioners at will, effectively collapsing the independence and bipartisan design of agencies like the FTC and FCC. Agency leadership could swing wholesale with each administration, altering rulemaking stability and regulatory credibility.
— A doctrinal shift on removal power would fundamentally rebalance executive control over regulators and remake how the administrative state operates.
Ilan Wurman
2025.10.15
78% relevant
Wurman argues the Constitution grants the President a constitutional right to remove principal executive officers as part of the power to oversee execution (not a broad residuum), undercutting Humphrey’s Executor’s insulation of agency heads and aligning with the thesis that SCOTUS may allow at‑will removal.
Francis Fukuyama
2025.09.29
90% relevant
The article details Trump’s removals of inspectors general and members of multi‑member boards (NLRB, MSPB, FTC) and notes the Roberts Court will revisit Humphrey’s Executor, aligning with the idea that at‑will removal could collapse agency independence.
BeauHD
2025.09.23
100% relevant
The Court permitted the firing of Rebecca Slaughter and her removal from the FTC website while signaling it will revisit the 1935 precedent this term.