Supreme Court dusts back administrative state in win for Trump, blow to Biden-appointed FTC commissioner
The high court set oral arguments in the case for December as it inches toward revisiting Humphrey's Executor
By Ashley Oliver Fox News
Published September 22, 2025 3:38pm EDT | Updated September 22, 2025 5:00pm EDT
The Supreme Court on Monday backed President Donald Trump's decision to fire a commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission, sending yet another signal that the high court intends to revisit a 90-year-old court precedent about executive firing power.
The temporary decision to maintain Biden-appointed Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter’s termination was issued 6-3 along ideological lines. The Supreme Court set oral arguments in the case for December.
Trump's decision to fire Slaughter and another Democrat-appointed commissioner, Alvaro Bedoya, faced legal challenges because it stood in tension with the FTC Act, which says commissioners should only be fired from their seven-year tenures for cause, such as malfeasance.
Trump fired Slaughter and Bedoya shortly after he took office without citing a cause other than the president's broad constitutional authority over the executive branch. Bedoya resigned, but Slaughter vowed to fight her firing in court and see the case through to its conclusion.
A lower court initially sided with Slaughter and reinstated her, but she has since been fired and rehired several times as her case made its way to the Supreme Court. Monday’s decision came after the Trump administration asked the high court on an emergency basis to temporarily pause Slaughter's reinstatement while it considers the merits of the case.
The Supreme Court's decision to keep Slaughter's firing intact means she will remain sidelined from the FTC until after the high court hears arguments about the case in December.
The case raises a pivotal question of whether Trump has the ability to fire members of independent agencies as the president pushes for a more unified executive branch. Independent agencies, such as the FTC, various labor boards and the Securities and Exchange Commission, have long been insulated by law from at-will firings.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/scotus-allows-trump-fire-biden-appointed-ftc-commissioner
