{"id":8134,"date":"2025-12-08T18:15:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T18:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/12\/08\/us-supreme-court-hears-arguments-in-case-that-tests-trumps-ability-to-fire-officials-live-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T18:15:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T18:15:32","slug":"us-supreme-court-hears-arguments-in-case-that-tests-trumps-ability-to-fire-officials-live-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/12\/08\/us-supreme-court-hears-arguments-in-case-that-tests-trumps-ability-to-fire-officials-live-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"US supreme court hears arguments in case that tests Trump\u2019s ability to fire officials \u2013 live – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"
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US supreme court conservatives appear poised to back Trump in FTC firing case<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n

After more than two hours of oral arguments, the court appeared poised to back the Trump administration\u2019s argument that the president should be able to fire independent board members that for almost a century have been protected from presidential interference.<\/p>\n

The justices appeared pretty firmly split down partisan lines, with the conservatives \u2013 including the sometimes swing vote of Justice Amy Coney Barrett \u2013 seeming to side with the administration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

After more than two hours of oral arguments, the court appeared poised to back the Trump administration\u2019s argument that the president should be able to fire independent board members that for almost a century have been protected from presidential interference.<\/p>\n

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The justices appeared pretty firmly split down partisan lines, with the conservatives \u2013 including the sometimes swing vote of Justice Amy Coney Barrett \u2013 seeming to side with the administration.<\/p>\n

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The bench just wrapped its questions to the administration\u2019s lawyer, solicitor general D John Sauer.<\/p>\n

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Arguing on behalf of Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, the fired Democratic member of the FTC, is Amit Agarwal<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMulti-member commissions with members enjoying some kind of removal protection have been part of our story since 1790,\u201d Agarwal said in his opening remarks. \u201cSo if petitioners are right, all three branches of government have been wrong from the start.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Justice Sonia Sotomayor<\/strong>, one of three liberal justices on the bench, seemed unconvinced with the administration\u2019s argument off the bat.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou\u2019re asking us to destroy the structure of government,\u201d she told solicitor general D John Sauer. \u201cTo take away from Congress its ability to protect its idea that a government is better structured with some agencies that are independent.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Arguments in the case that will decide whether Donald Trump<\/a> can fire officials from independent agencies have started.<\/p>\n

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First up is solicitor general D John <\/strong>Sauer<\/strong>, arguing on behalf of the Trump administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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He kicks off his opening remarks by arguing that the key 90-year precedent, known as the Humphrey\u2019s Executor, \u201cmust be overruled\u201d.<\/p>\n

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He describes the ruling as a \u201cdecaying husk with bold, and particularly dangerous pretensions\u201d that ultimately creates a \u201cheadless fourth branch insulated from political accountability and democratic control\u201d.<\/p>\n

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In less than an hour, the supreme court will here arguments in a landmark case that tests Donald Trump\u2019s ability to fire officials.<\/p>\n

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Earlier this year, the president moved to fire Rebecca Slaughter<\/strong>, a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission. Trump actually appointed her to the position back in 2018, and she was re-confirmed for a second term under Joe Biden that was set to expire in 2029.<\/p>\n

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Slaughter during a House judiciary committee hearing in Washington DC, 13 July 2023.”,”caption”:”Rebecca Slaughter during a House judiciary committee hearing in Washington DC, 13 July 2023.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Al Drago\/Bloomberg via Getty Images”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”<\/p>\n

One of the main questions the nine-justice bench will consider today is whether to overturn a key 1938 decision<\/strong> which established that the president requires Congress\u2019 signoff to fire an official from an independent government agency<\/strong>, and it needs to be \u201cfor cause\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Slaughter\u2019s case is the latest emergency appeal that the supreme court will hear from the Trump administration<\/a>, after a lower court judge blocked her firing, and an appeal court upheld that decision. A reminder that, in May, the court allowed Trump to remove two Democratic members of the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board \u2013 despite job protections for these posts \u2013 while litigation challenging those removals proceeded. And in September, they deferred action on the Department of Justice\u2019s request to allow Trump to fire Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook<\/strong>, at least until it hears oral arguments on the case in January.<\/p>\n

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Axios broke the news<\/a> of Pamela Smith\u2019s resignation. Speaking to the outlet, she said: \u201cThere comes a time when you just know it\u2019s time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Smith, who has 28 years of law enforcement experience, said her decision is not related to the deployment of national guard troops<\/a> to the city.<\/p>\n

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Speaking to Fox 5 about her decision to resign, the outgoing police chief said it was a \u201ctough\u201d decision and was made to spend more time with her family.<\/p>\n

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She said:<\/p>\n

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n <\/p>\n

I have been going nonstop. I have missed many amazing celebrations, birthdays, marriages, you name it, within our family.<\/em><\/p>\n

n <\/p>\n

And being able to come home for thanksgiving two years after my mum passed really resonated with me and has allowed me to make a decision that I think is necessary not just only for me but also for my family.<\/em><\/p>\n

n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Smith is expected to step down on 31 December and the mayor\u2019s office will name an interim chief shortly, according to Axios.<\/p>\n

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In a statement<\/a>, Pamela Smith<\/strong> said she was \u201cdeeply humbled, grateful and deeply appreciative\u201d of her time in her role, which she described as the \u201cgreatest honor\u201d of her career. She gave thanks to the mayor for appointing her in 2023 and supporting her throughout her tenure, which she acknowledged had been both \u201cchallenging and rewarding\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Smith adds that \u201ctremendous progress\u201d has been made but the city is not at \u201czero percent crime\u201d yet.<\/p>\n

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She said:<\/p>\n

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n <\/p>\n

I am confident that the department is in a strong position and that the great work will continue, moving in a positive trajectory to combat crime and enhance public safety. Washington, DC is an extraordinary place to live, visit, and work, and I remain inspired by the resilience and spirit of this community.<\/em><\/p>\n

n <\/p>\n

I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to serve in this capacity as Chief of Police. It has been an honor to lead the men and women of the Metropolitan Police Department, and I will always carry with the me the pride of having served this city.<\/em><\/p>\n

n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“,”elementId”:”97048944-34d0-4f50-a4bf-1ad8aab0f9d1″}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1765196608000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”07.23\u00a0EST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1765197066000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”07.31\u00a0EST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1765196916000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”07.28\u00a0EST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”07.28″,”title”:”Smith says serving as Washington DC police chief was ‘greatest honor’ of her career”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Mon 8 Dec 2025 13.16 EST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Mon 8 Dec 2025 04.57 EST”},{“id”:”6936bedc8f0805b27b4a19c3″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”<\/p>\n

Here is Bowser\u2019s full statement<\/a> on Smith stepping down:<\/p>\n

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n <\/p>\n

When Chief Smith stepped up to lead the Metropolitan Police Department, we had no time to waste. She came in at a very challenging time for our community, when there was significant urgency to reverse the crime trends our city was facing post pandemic. Within a year of her tenure, we opened the Real-Time Crime Center.<\/em><\/p>\n

n <\/p>\n

We deployed newer and better technology. We worked with the Council to pass comprehensive legislation that prioritizes accountability. And Chief Smith got all of this done while also navigating unprecedented challenges and attacks on our city\u2019s autonomy.<\/em><\/p>\n

n <\/p>\n

Chief Smith dramatically drove down violent crime, drove down the homicide rate to its lowest levels in eight years, and helped us restore a sense of safety and accountability in our neighborhoods. We are grateful for her service to Washington, DC.<\/em><\/p>\n

n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Bowser thanked the outgoing police chief for her service to Washington in difficult times.”,”caption”:”Muriel Bowser thanked the outgoing police chief for her service to Washington in difficult times. “,”credit”:”Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein\/AP”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1765195484000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”07.04\u00a0EST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1765196999000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”07.29\u00a0EST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1765195792000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”07.09\u00a0EST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”07.09″,”title”:”Washington DC Mayor says outgoing police chief helped ‘restore a sense of safety’ in the city”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Mon 8 Dec 2025 13.16 EST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Mon 8 Dec 2025 04.57 EST”},{“id”:”6936bad88f0820589cc29960″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”<\/p>\n

Pamela Smith<\/strong>, the chief of the Metropolitan police department, <\/strong>is stepping down after two and a half years on the job, the Washington DC<\/a> mayor, Muriel Bowser<\/strong>, has announced.<\/p>\n

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Bowser appointed Smith<\/a> to the position in July 2023, when she became the second woman and first Black woman to permanently run the agency since its founding in 1861.<\/p>\n

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Smith attends a press conference at the department of justice in Washington in December.”,”caption”:”Pamela Smith attends a press conference at the department of justice in Washington in December. “,”credit”:”Photograph: Maansi Srivastava\/EPA”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1765194456000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”06.47\u00a0EST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1765198955000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”08.02\u00a0EST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1765194599000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”06.49\u00a0EST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”06.49″,”title”:”DC police chief Pamela Smith to step down from role”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Mon 8 Dec 2025 13.16 EST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Mon 8 Dec 2025 04.57 EST”},{“id”:”6936b5948f0820589cc29935″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”<\/p>\n

US Democrats<\/a> on Sunday pushed the Trump administration<\/a> to release video of a second strike on an alleged drug boat incapacitated in the Caribbean, continuing to escalate pressure on the Pentagon amid accusations the attack was unlawful.<\/p>\n

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Eleven people died in the 2 September attack<\/a>, including two men killed in a follow-up strike as they reportedly clung to wreckage<\/a> for an hour.<\/p>\n

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That killing has been met with intense scrutiny and accusations of war crimes after the Washington Post reported<\/a> defense secretary Pete Hegseth<\/strong> gave an order to \u201ckill them all\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Pete Hegseth shows no sign of backing down, calls from Democrats for his resignation are intensifying.”,”caption”:”While Pete Hegseth shows no sign of backing down, calls from Democrats for his resignation are intensifying.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Brian Snyder\/Reuters”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”<\/p>\n

Adm Frank Bradley<\/strong> of the US navy, who oversaw the attack, told lawmakers on Thursday there was no such order<\/a> \u2013 and the Pentagon has defended the legality of the attack. Experts have said the defense is legally shaky<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf the Pentagon and our defense secretary are so proud of what they\u2019re doing, let the American people see that video,\u201d Adam Schiff, a Democratic senator from California, said during an interview on Sunday on NBC\u2019s Meet the Press.<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cLet the American people see two people standing on a capsized boat, or sitting on a capsized boat, and deliberately killed and decide for themselves whether they\u2019re proud of what the country is doing. I can\u2019t imagine people would be proud of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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You can read the full story here:<\/p>\n

“,”elementId”:”21079be5-f7c5-4c5c-87d4-fa875821d5e2″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement”,”prefix”:”Related: “,”text”:”Democrats urge Pentagon to release video of strike on alleged drug boat”,”elementId”:”9c2ccfce-491d-458f-b9b1-0bd54cc48a75″,”role”:”thumbnail”,”url”:”https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/dec\/07\/democrats-trump-caribbean-drug-boat-strike-video”}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1765193108000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”06.25\u00a0EST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1765193450000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”06.30\u00a0EST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1765193343000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”06.29\u00a0EST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”06.29″,”title”:”Democrats urge Pentagon to release video of strike on alleged drug boat”,”contributors”:[{“name”:”Sam Levine”,”imageUrl”:”https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/uploads\/2022\/12\/09\/Sam_Levine.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=25e62f18000fc746ffbf14a234227fd1″,”largeImageUrl”:”https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/uploads\/2022\/12\/09\/Sam_Levine_Next_Gen.png?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=b749a487d2c9f5ea6cea0ef137bce319″}],”primaryDateLine”:”Mon 8 Dec 2025 13.16 EST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Mon 8 Dec 2025 04.57 EST”},{“id”:”6936aa208f085598a17f36fc”,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”<\/p>\n

A proposal to redraw Indiana<\/strong>\u2019s congressional boundaries faces its first public test in the state Senate later today, with uncertainty over whether it will pass.<\/p>\n

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Redistricting is typically done once a decade after the census. But Donald Trump<\/a> has put pressure on GOP states in recent months to redraw their maps ahead of next year\u2019s midterms, with the president wanting to protect the Republicans\u2019 thin majority in the House.<\/p>\n

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Several Republican senators have indicated their opposition to the redrawing of the map mid-decade despite the pressure coming from the White House. Republicans currently hold seven of the state\u2019s nine districts.<\/p>\n

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The newly drawn map \u2013 passed by the Republican super majority in the state House on Friday \u2013 splits the city of Indianapolis<\/strong> into four districts, distributed across other Republican-leaning areas. It also groups the cities of East Chicago<\/strong> and Gary<\/strong> with a wide swath of rural counties in northern Indiana<\/strong>. The contours would eliminate the districts of the state\u2019s two Democratic congressional representatives.<\/p>\n

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Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of US politics<\/a>. Lawmakers have unveiled an annual defense policy bill authorizing a record $901bn in national security spending next year.<\/p>\n

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The budget for the defense department is $8bn more than the $892.6bn in the Trump administration\u2019s budget request for the department.<\/p>\n

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The sweeping 3,000-page bill includes a 4% raise for enlisted troops, with the legislation seeking to codify some of Donald Trump<\/strong>\u2019s executive orders, including those aimed at accelerating American manufacturing of drones, and developing the so-called \u201cGolden Dome\u201d missile defense system that the White House envisions<\/a> will protect the US from possible foreign strikes.<\/p>\n

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Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives will be cut under the bill, which will see troops deployed to the south-west US border to apparently intercept undocumented immigrants and drugs.<\/p>\n

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of the House Mike Johnson said the bill advances the Trump administration\u2019s agenda.”,”caption”:”Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said the bill advances the Trump administration\u2019s agenda. “,”credit”:”Photograph: Maansi Srivastava\/EPA”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”<\/p>\n

House Speaker Mike Johnson<\/strong>, a Louisiana Republican, said the legislation would advance Trump\u2019s agenda by \u201cending woke ideology at the Pentagon, securing the border, revitalizing the defense industrial base, and restoring the warrior ethos.\u201d<\/p>\n

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European officials will be pleased to read that the bill prevents the Pentagon from cutting the number of troops permanently stationed or deployed to Europe below 76,000 for more than 45 days.<\/p>\n

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This is unless the defense secretary and head of the US European Command certify to Congress that the deployment is against America\u2019s national security interest, and will have to provide assessments of the withdrawal\u2019s impact, among other requirements.<\/p>\n

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The bill also provides $400m in military assistance to Ukraine, reflecting Kyiv\u2019s need to defend itself against Russia\u2019s continuing aggression.<\/p>\n

“,”elementId”:”07d3095c-ae4b-4ce5-8688-d770ae3a86d4″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”<\/p>\n

On another foreign policy front, the bill repeals two resolutions authorizing the use of military force in Iraq in 1991 and 2002. Stay with us as we bring you more on this story and the other major political developments from the US.<\/p>\n

“,”elementId”:”ff97aad9-2b65-449a-8469-f53f55c7eef0″}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1765187836000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”04.57\u00a0EST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1765189040000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”05.17\u00a0EST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1765187836000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”04.57\u00a0EST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”04.57″,”title”:”Sprawling defense bill will ‘restore warrior ethos’, House speaker says”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Mon 8 Dec 2025 13.16 EST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Mon 8 Dec 2025 04.57 EST”}],”filterKeyEvents”:false,”id”:”key-events-carousel-mobile”,”renderingTarget”:”Web”,”serverTime”:1765217812027}”><\/span><\/p>\n

Key events<\/p>\n

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Liberal justice Ketanji Brown Jackson also expressed doubt that more presidential firing power is better for democracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou seem to think that there\u2019s something about the president that requires him to control everything as a matter of democratic accountability, when, on the other side, we have Congress saying we\u2019d like these particular agencies and officers to be independent of presidential control for the good of the people<\/strong>,\u201d she told Sauer.<\/p>\n

Jackson also emphasized that centering so much power under presidential control would undermine issues that Congress decided should be handled by nonpartisan experts<\/strong> in independent agencies<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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<\/svg>So having a president come in and fire all the scientists, and the doctors, and the economists and the PhDs, and replacing them with loyalists and people who don\u2019t know anything is actually not in the best interest of the citizens of the United State<\/strong>s.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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And to expand on liberal justice Sonia Sotomayor\u2019s comments that we reported earlier, she said independent agencies have existed throughout US history, and challenged Sauer to explain why the court should make such a drastic change to the structure of government.<\/p>\n

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<\/svg>Neither the king, nor parliament nor prime ministers in England at the time of the founding [of the United States] ever had an unqualified removal power<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re asking us to destroy the structure of government<\/strong> and to take away from Congress its ability to protect its idea that a government is better structured with some agencies that are independent<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Earlier, liberal justice Elena Kagan said the court should not ignore \u201cthe real-world realities\u201d of what its decisions do<\/strong>. She told Sauer:<\/p>\n

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<\/svg>The result of what you want is that the president is going to have massive, unchecked, uncontrolled power<\/strong> \u2013 not only to do traditional execution, but to make law through legislative and adjudicative frameworks.<\/p>\n

What you are left with is a president … with control over everything<\/strong>, including over much of the lawmaking that happens in this country.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Sauer countered that the impact would be the president \u201chaving control over the executive branch, which he must and does have under our constitution\u201d.<\/p>\n

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US supreme court conservatives appear poised to back Trump in FTC firing case<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n

After more than two hours of oral arguments, the court appeared poised to back the Trump administration\u2019s argument that the president should be able to fire independent board members that for almost a century have been protected from presidential interference.<\/p>\n

The justices appeared pretty firmly split down partisan lines, with the conservatives \u2013 including the sometimes swing vote of Justice Amy Coney Barrett \u2013 seeming to side with the administration.<\/p>\n

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<\/header>\n

Issuing his brief rebuttal, the administration\u2019s lawyer, solicitor general D John Sauer, encourages the court to overturn the nearly century-old decision protecting board members from removal, calling it a \u201cdecaying husk\u201d<\/strong>, and to \u201crestore the separation of powers to our government\u201d.<\/p>\n

He says that if the justices construe the president\u2019s powers narrowly, \u201cthen we have a situation where Congress could erect virtual, reconstruct, virtually the entire executive branch outside the president\u2019s control<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that is not even a republican form of government,\u201d he adds. \u201cBut that is the logic of the position that\u2019s being advanced here. That is the parade of horrible as the court ought to consider.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/header>\n

Agarwal says he absolutely accepts the interpretation of the vesting clause of Article II that established a general default presidential removal power, \u201cbut the constitutional text clearly delineates the boundary between the president\u2019s power and Congress\u2019s power with respect to removal<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n

In addition, Agarwal highlights the vast historical scholarship that indicates the original understanding \u201cthat significant governmental authority absolutely could be vested in commissions that were not subject to plenary presidential control, that every single member was not subject to presidential control<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n

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<\/header>\n

Agarwal cites historical evidence that \u201caffirm a rich body of recent historical scholarship that supports the conclusion that the history surrounding this issue is at a minimum contestable\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/svg>And there is a whole lot of history that supports the proposition that the first president of the United States and the first Congress did not believe that the president always and everywhere had to have absolute, illimitable, indefeasible power to fire every single head of any kind of commission exercizing any significant governmental authority.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He says he\u2019s asking the court to give effect not just to the decision of 1789, but also to the decision of 1790.<\/p>\n

The other side wants a \u201cmaximalist interpretation\u201d of the 1790 decision, he says. That decision settled the question of whether the Senate should be able to interfere with presidential removals, he agrees, but everything else is highly contestable at a minimum.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is all the more reason for this court to be cautious in developing heavy-handed constitutional rules that don\u2019t have a clear basis in constitutional text<\/strong>,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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<\/header>\n

Justice Sotomayor says that most of the original powers of the FTC when Humphrey\u2019s was decided are the same powers that exist today. She points out that the district judge outlined this as well.<\/p>\n

The only power she\u2019s identified that might be different is that the FTC\u2019s cease-and-desist orders now have binding effect immediately, she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I think your point in response to Justice Alito is, if there\u2019s a power that the FTC is wielding now that trenches inappropriately, the answer is not to do away with the \u2018for cause\u2019 removal; the answer is to eliminate that individual power,\u201d she says. \u201cSo that should be the answer if there\u2019s been an expansion of the powers inappropriately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agarwal says that is correct and that is their position.<\/p>\n

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<\/header>\n

A quick reminder that, in September, the supreme court granted a justice department request to block a lower court\u2019s order<\/strong> that shielded Rebecca Slaughter, from being dismissed from the consumer protection and antitrust agency before her term expires in 2029. She will remain fired until the court issue their decision.<\/p>\n

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<\/header>\n

While answering questions from justices today, Agarwal said that the \u201creal world danger\u201d if the administration is successful, is that \u201ceverything is on the chopping block\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added that there was \u201cabsolutely no principled basis\u201d for \u201ccarving out\u201d independent agencies from Congress\u2019s purview.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re talking about more than two dozen traditional independent agencies<\/strong> that have been established by statutes enacted by the people\u2019s elected representatives and signed into law, all of them by democratically elected presidents,\u201d Agarwal said.<\/p>\n

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Lawyer for fired FTC member says removal protection ‘has been part of our story since 1790’<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n

The bench just wrapped its questions to the administration\u2019s lawyer, solicitor general D John Sauer.<\/p>\n

Arguing on behalf of Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, the fired Democratic member of the FTC, is Amit Agarwal<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMulti-member commissions with members enjoying some kind of removal protection have been part of our story since 1790,\u201d Agarwal said in his opening remarks. \u201cSo if petitioners are right, all three branches of government have been wrong from the start.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/header>\n

Justice Jackson is now pushing back against the administration\u2019s claims that these independent agencies aren\u2019t answerable to Congress \u2013\u00a0which delegates their creation, oversight, budgets and laws.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of your argument seemed to revolve around this notion that there\u2019s some kind of thing happening with the independent agency that the reason why the president needs to control it is because they don\u2019t answer to anybody,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I don\u2019t understand from your overarching argument is why that determination of Congress, which makes perfect sense given its duty to protect the people of the United States, why that is subjugated to a concern about the president not being able to control everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/header>\n

As he responds to questions from justices today, Sauer has repeatedly argued that independent agencies like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are a \u201cheadless fourth branch\u201d with limited government oversight.<\/p>\n

When responding to questions from justice Brett Kavanaugh, the solicitor general said that these agencies exercise \u201ca great deal of control over individuals and business\u201d but \u201cultimately do not answer to the president\u201d.<\/p>\n

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