The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to allow the president to fire a member of the Federal Trade Commission, after lower courts ruled he lacks the authority to remove members of independent agencies without cause.
President Donald Trump moved to fire Rebecca Slaughter earlier this year, but lower courts ruled she could keep her job because the law only allows commissioners to be removed for issues such as misconduct or neglect of duty.
Earlier this week, an appeals court said Trump unlawfully fired Slaughter and that her firing was squarely at odds with Supreme Court precedent.
The Justice Department contends that the FTC and other executive branch agencies are under Trump’s control and that the president has the power to remove commissioners without cause.
The testing of the president’s removal power could lead the nation’s highest court to consider overturning a 1935 Supreme Court decision known as Humphrey’s Executor, in which justices unanimously ruled that presidents cannot fire independent board members without cause.
The ruling brought in an era of powerful independent federal agencies charged with regulating labor relations, employment discrimination, the airwaves and other matters.
That case also centered around the FTC, which was highlighted by lower-court judges in the lawsuit filed by Slaughter, who has been fired and rehired multiple times this year as the case worked its way through the courts.
The FTC is a regulator created by Congress that enforces consumer protection measures and antitrust legislation. The agency’s seats are typically made up of three members of the president’s party and two from the opposing party.
Slaughter was first appointed by Trump in 2018, and then later reappointed by former President Joe Biden. She is the only remaining Democrat on the FTC.
The high court has already allowed the removal of several other board members from independent agencies.
The justices have also suggested that Trump’s removal powers have limitations at the Federal Reserve, which could soon be tested as well in the case of Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.