# Supreme Court Overturns 91-Year Precedent, Gives President Power to Fire Independent Regulators

*2026-06-29 22:02 UTC · Other · 1 min read*

> In a 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court overturned a 91-year-old precedent to allow the president to fire members of independent federal agencies at will.

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a 91-year-old legal protection for independent federal agencies in a landmark 6-3 ruling on Monday, holding that President Trump's 2025 firing of FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter was constitutional. The decision overturns Humphrey's Executor, a 1935 precedent that had shielded agency heads from removal without cause, fundamentally reshaping the balance of power between the White House and independent regulators.

The ruling affects a wide range of independent agencies beyond the FTC, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Merit Systems Protection Board, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission — all of which saw Democratic members dismissed by Trump in 2025. By removing the for-cause protection, the court effectively turns commissioners at these bodies into at-will employees serving at the president's pleasure.

In a sharp dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, warned that the majority had handed the president "far greater power than ever before" — power, she wrote, that "neither the People, nor Congress, nor the Constitution bestowed upon him."

## Sources

- [npr.org](https://www.npr.org/2026/06/29/nx-s1-5816232/supreme-court-ftc-independent-agencies-humphreys-executor)
- [abcnews.com](https://abcnews.com/Politics/supreme-court-allows-trump-firing-ftc-commissioner/story?id=129203395)
- [cbsnews.com](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-trump-ftc-slaughter-humphreys-executor/)

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TechTools News · https://techtools.cz/tools/news/article/1915-supreme-court-overturns-91-year-precedent-gives-president-power-to-fire
Česká verze: https://techtools.cz/tools/news/clanek/1988-nejvyssi-soud-usa-zrusil-91-let-stary-precedens-prezident-muze-propoustet-sefy