[[link removed]]

OUTCRY OVER SUPREME COURT DECISION TO GRANT TRUMP POWER TO FIRE
AGENCY CHIEFS  
[[link removed]]


 

Michael Sainato
June 29, 2026
The Guardian
[[link removed]]


*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ Legal and labor experts say Trump v Slaughter decision upends
settled constitutional law in favor of ‘loyalty test’ _

Rebecca Slaughter pictured in 2020. Slaughter was fired as an FTC
commissioner last year., Photograph: David Becker/Getty Images

 

As a reality TV show host, Donald Trump
[[link removed]] rose to fame with
the catchphrase: “You’re fired!”. On Monday, the US supreme
court handed him
[[link removed]]
– and all future presidents – the power to fire leaders of
independent agencies or commissions, overturning 90 years of court
precedent curbing executive power.

While Trump celebrated the decision on Truth Social
[[link removed]] as
a “big win”, labor advocates, unions, and consumer advocacy groups
criticized the supreme court decision on the case, Trump v Slaughter,
and warned of the long-term impacts for democracy in the US. Rebecca
Slaughter, the Federal Trade Commissioner fired last March, said she
was “profoundly disappointed
[[link removed]]
about today’s decision” during a press call.

“There’s no sugar-coating Slaughter. It’s an enormously
important ruling (far more important than the other three decisions
handed down today). It’s a huge win for Trump/the executive. And
it’s going to have massive ramifications for the functioning of the
government long after Trump is gone,” wrote
[[link removed]]
Stephen Vladeck, a Georgetown Law professor.

Trump has already fired several leaders of independent agencies during
his second presidential term. He fired
[[link removed]]
National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox, the first Black
woman to serve on the agency’s board; Susan Tsui Grundmann,
[[link removed]]
one of three board members at the Federal Labor Relations Authority
(FLRA); Erika McEntarfer
[[link removed]],
the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics; and Deirdre
Hamilton
[[link removed]],
a member of the National Mediation Board.

But it was his firing
[[link removed]]
of Slaughter that led to the supreme court ruling. Slaughter said in a
statement that she was fired “because I have a voice. And he [Trump]
is afraid of what I’ll tell the American people.”

Trump also fired another Democratic commissioner at the Federal Trade
Commission, Alvaro Bedoya.

No cause was given for justifying the firings, other than noting
[[link removed]]
their “continued service on the FTC is inconsistent with [the Trump]
administration’s priorities”.

The ruling overturns Humphrey’s Executor, a 1935 ruling
[[link removed]]
that the US constitution did not grant “illimitable power of
removal” to the president and protected independent agency staff
from potential political attacks from the president. That case was
triggered by Franklin Roosevelt’s attempt to fire William Humphrey,
a Republican commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission.

“As Justice Sotomayor recognized in dissent, today’s decision
abandons nearly a century of settled constitutional understanding and
replaces it with a loyalty test,” said Gary DiBianco, co-founder of
the pro bono litigation corps Lawyers for Good Government
[[link removed]].

The decision will leave Trump and any future president in far greater
control of independent agencies.

“In short, our authoritarian president was just handed the keys to
be even more authoritarian, and the long-term consequences will no
doubt be disastrous,” said Rachel Rossi, the president of Alliance
for Justice, a progressive judicial advocacy group, in a statement on
the ruling.

“Under this ruling, the guardrails against corruption and unfair
interference by President Trump are further eroded, putting millions
of Americans at risk,” said Michael Sozan, a senior fellow at the
Center for American Progress. “This ruling, which overturns nearly a
century of well-settled law, allows the president to exert undue
political pressure over government agencies that Congress designed to
be insulated from such coercion.”

“The decision effectively prioritizes the political preferences of
the president over ensuring that independent agencies can carry out
their enforcement and regulatory functions consistent with the law and
operate with integrity,” said Jocelyn Frye of the National
Partnership for Women & Families.

In a separate ruling, the supreme court ruled against
[[link removed]]
Trump’s firing of Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook, which
Trump attempted
[[link removed]]
in August last year. But the supreme court has made clear that the Fed
will be treated differently from other government agencies.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor called the Slaughter decision “egregiously
wrong”
[[link removed]], arguing
that the majority had upended settled constitutional law in a ruling
that, she wrote, “promises to unleash only chaos”.

“Today, the court discards that democratic regime in favor of one
that distorts the structure of government to fit the majority’s
theory of unitary, total executive control. The result is a president
who emerges with far greater power than ever before,” she wrote.

_Michael Sainato is labor reporter for Guardian US. Twitter
__@msainat1_
[[link removed]]

* Supreme Court Decision
[[link removed]]
* firings
[[link removed]]
* Presidential powers
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

Submit via web
[[link removed]]

Submit via email
Frequently asked questions
[[link removed]]
Manage subscription
[[link removed]]
Visit xxxxxx.org
[[link removed]]

Bluesky [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

 




[link removed]

To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]