The U.S. Supreme Court has given President Donald Trump the power to fire independent agency heads in a 6-3 ruling. This decision could have wide-reaching effects on the federal government, with over two dozen agencies affected.
Impact on Independent Agencies
The ruling overturns a precedent that had been in place for nearly a century, preventing past presidents from removing members of independent agencies at will. President Trump hailed the decision as “historic” and “one of the most important ever given with respect to Presidential Powers.”
The case stemmed from Trump’s removal of former Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, who was fired last year without cause. Victoria Nourse, a law professor at Georgetown University, said the Supreme Court’s decision could have significant ripple effects across the federal government, affecting agencies that cover everything from financial markets to nuclear power.
Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Anna Gomez warned that the ruling is at odds with how Congress intended independent agencies to function. “When commissioners can be removed for their policy views rather than for cause, the inevitable result is an agency that pulls its punches and defers to political winds rather than the record before it,” Gomez said.
Original reporting: WESH Orlando — read the source article.
