In a major expansion of presidential authority, the Supreme Court cleared the way on Monday for President Trump to fire independent government regulators despite federal laws meant to protect their jobs. But the justices carved out an exception for the Federal Reserve, preventing the president from immediately removing one governor, Lisa D. Cook, from the powerful central bank.
The court’s 6-to-3 ruling to broadly allow the firings, with the three liberal justices dissenting, represented a significant shift in power from Congress to the president, and could drastically change the federal government’s structure by giving the president more control over independent agencies.
The case tested whether Mr. Trump could oust Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission, simply because she did not align with his agenda, despite a law that says the president can remove commissioners only for “inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.”
But the decision has implications for more than two dozen agencies — including those charged with protecting consumers, workers, the environment and nuclear safety — that have traditionally been insulated from presidential control. » | Ann E. Marimow | Reporting from Washington | Monday, June 29, 2026
How smart can those on the Supreme Court be, deciding as they have, to give a president who happens to be a convicted criminal, a president who is out to destroy democracy and turn his country into a full-on autocracy, even more powers to achieve his nefarious goals? — © Mark Alexander
