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BREAKING: Supreme Court sides with Trump on firing Rebecca Slaughter— rules that the President may fire FTC commissioners pic.twitter.com/oKNkSgslQI

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 29, 2026

In a 6-3 opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court said that the Constitution grants the president—any president—the power to remove individuals who exercise executive authority. In doing so, it overruled its long-discredited 91-year-old New Deal-era decision of Humphrey’s Executor v. United States. Here’s what happened: Democrat operative Rebecca Slaughter was appointed to be a member of the Federal Trade Commission in 2018. The relevant statute says that no more than three commissioners can be from the same political party, so she filled one of the Democratic Party seats on the FTC. President Joe Biden later renominated her, and in 2024 the Senate reconfirmed her to a second term ending in 2029. But on March 18, 2025, Slaughter received an email from President Donald Trump stating that her “continued service on the FTC is inconsistent with [his] administration’s priorities” and that he was removing her from office effective immediately. Slaughter then sued, arguing that the firing violated the Federal Trade Commission Act, which required that the president remove an FTC commissioner only “for cause.” Cause, as delineated in the statute, means “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” But Trump pointed to the Constitution, arguing that Article II vests the “executive Power”—all of it—in the “President of the United States of America” and further requires that he “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” In his view, this meant that Congress’ efforts to restrict his ability to remove members of so-called independent agencies like the FTC were unconstitutional.