Photo of Sheila MillarPhoto of Antonia Stamenova-DanchevaPhoto of Anushka R. Stein

On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States (the Court) struck down Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, the nearly century-old precedent that restricted presidential authority to fire independent agency officers at will. The Court’s decision in Trump v. Slaughter, in which a former Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Photo of Sheila MillarPhoto of Antonia Stamenova-DanchevaPhoto of Anushka R. Stein

The latest development in the ongoing legal saga regarding the scope of presidential authority to fire officials at various independent federal agencies occurred on September 22, 2025, when the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS or the Court) granted a stay of the reinstatement of Rebecca Slaughter, a former commissioner at the Federal Trade

Photo of Sheila MillarPhoto of Antonia Stamenova-DanchevaPhoto of Anushka R. Stein

In an important development since our June 24, 2025 article, on July 1, 2025, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Trump administration’s motion to stay a district court’s decision reinstating three Democratic commissioners to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Immediately after the Fourth Circuit’s decision, the Department of Justice (DOJ) submitted