Court Reshapes Firing Powers
Supreme Court Grants President New Firing Authority, Keeps Federal Reserve Protected
The Supreme Court handed President Trump sweeping new authority to fire the leaders of most federal independent agencies on June 29, ruling 6-3 in The Guardian that the president can remove FTC commissioners at will. In a separate 5-4 vote, however, the Court blocked Trump from firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, carving out a narrow protection for the central bank.
The twin rulings effectively end 90 years of legal protection for agency heads. They also set up a coming wave of firings across regulators like the SEC, FCC, and NLRB — while leaving the Fed on shaky, if still standing, ground.
Court Wipes Out 90-Year Shield for Agency Chiefs
Since 1935, a case called *Humphrey's Executor* had let Congress protect agency leaders from being fired without cause — meaning only for "inefficiency, neglect, or malfeasance." The Court's 6-3 ruling in *Trump v. Slaughter* throws that out entirely, according to The Guardian. All six conservative justices joined the majority. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote both opinions.
The case began in March 2025, when Trump fired FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter three years before her term was due to end in 2029. Lower courts had blocked the firing. The Supreme Court reversed those rulings and sided with Trump. Justice Sonia Sotomayor called the decision "egregiously wrong" in a dissent, warning it would "unleash chaos" across the government, The Guardian reported.
Federal Reserve Gets a Narrow Win — For Now
In August 2025, Trump fired Fed Governor Lisa Cook — the first such firing in the Fed's 111-year history. He accused her of "mortgage fraud." Cook sued to keep her job. On June 29, a slim 5-4 majority ruled that Trump had not followed proper procedures or shown enough "cause" to justify the firing, according to Banking Dive.
Chief Justice Roberts joined the three liberal justices and Justice Kavanaugh to form that majority. But the Court did not rule that Fed governors can never be fired — only that Trump failed to clear the bar this time. Cook's 14-year term was designed by Congress to span multiple presidencies. That protection now holds by a single vote, LA Times noted.
A Wave of Agency Firings Now Legally Clear
The *Slaughter* ruling opens the door for Trump to fire holdover leaders at the SEC, FCC, NLRB, and FERC without any legal justification. Georgetown Law Professor Stephen Vladeck told The Guardian the decision is "far more important" than any other ruling this term because it "fundamentally restructures how the government functions."
Critics warn the ruling also provides a legal framework to reclassify tens of thousands of career civil servants as at-will employees, The New Republic reported. Trump called the *Slaughter* ruling a "big win" on Truth Social. Republican allies said it restores accountability by making regulators answerable to the elected president.
Markets Rattled, Then Relieved by the Fed Carve-Out
Wall Street had been watching the *Cook* case closely. Analysts at the Hutchins Center warned that a Trump win would have signaled the end of the Fed's ability to fight inflation without political pressure, according to PBS NewsHour. The 5-4 ruling keeping Cook in place gave markets a short-term "sigh of relief."
But the relief is fragile. The Fed's independence now rests on a single swing vote. Banking Dive noted that future attempts to fire a Fed governor — with better-documented "cause" — could succeed under the same legal framework the Court laid out today.
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