Trump's attempt to fire FTC Democrat gets a boost from Supreme Court

"The key precedent in the case is Humphrey's Executor v. United States, a 1935 ruling in which the Supreme Court unanimously held that the president can only remove FTC commissioners for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. Trump's termination notices to Slaughter and Bedoya said they were being fired simply because their presence on the commission "is inconsistent with my Administration's priorities.""

"The Trump administration argues that Humphrey's Executor shouldn't apply to the current version of the FTC because it exercises significant executive power. But the appeals court, in a 2-1 ruling, said "the present-day Commission exercises the same powers that the Court understood it to have in 1935 when Humphrey's Executor was decided." "The government has no likelihood of success on appeal given controlling and directly on point Supreme Court precedent," the panel majority said."

"The Supreme Court previously stayed District Court decisions in cases involving Trump's removal of Democrats from the National Labor Relations Board, the Merit Systems Protection Board, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. In a 2020 decision involving the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the court said in a footnote that its 1935 "conclusion that the FTC did not exercise executive power has not withstood the test of time.""

Humphrey's Executor v. United States (1935) held that the president may remove Federal Trade Commission commissioners only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. President Trump terminated commissioners Slaughter and Bedoya, saying their presence was inconsistent with his administration's priorities. The Trump administration contends Humphrey's should not apply because the modern FTC exercises significant executive power. A federal appeals court found the present-day FTC exercises the same powers as in 1935 and concluded the government had no likelihood of success on appeal. The Supreme Court has previously stayed similar removal rulings and signaled doubts in a 2020 footnote.

Read at Ars Technica