Overview
- The Supreme Court, in a 6–3 decision on Monday, June 29, held in Trump v. Slaughter that the president may remove FTC commissioners at will and therefore upheld President Trump’s March 2025 dismissals of two commissioners.
- Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion that departs from the 1935 Humphrey’s Executor precedent that had protected agency independence for decades.
- A separate, narrower 5–4 decision in the companion case protected the Federal Reserve’s procedural safeguards and kept Governor Lisa Cook in place while lower courts consider further limits.
- The change affects roughly two dozen independent multimember agencies and is likely to make leadership, enforcement priorities, and rulemaking at the SEC and CFTC more directly tied to presidential politics, which could quickly alter how regulators treat crypto and financial firms.
- Expect a wave of litigation and congressional responses, and watch personnel moves at the SEC and CFTC as the fastest indicators of how rules and enforcement may shift for consumers, investors, and businesses.