President Trump Seeks Supreme Court Approval to Dismiss FTC Commissioner Slaughter: Legal Battle Over Agency Head Removal
President Donald Trump has requested the Supreme Court to allow him to dismiss Federal Trade Commission commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, who was reinstated by lower courts after being terminated by Trump. Trump is seeking to halt Slaughter's reinstatement while he appeals the case. The White House asserts that Trump lawfully removed Slaughter from the FTC and cites previous Supreme Court decisions affirming the President's authority to remove agency heads.
In March, Trump removed Slaughter and another Democratic commissioner, Alvaro Bedoya, as part of an effort to assert control over federal agencies. Slaughter and Bedoya filed a lawsuit against Trump to be reinstated, but Bedoya resigned from the FTC in June and dropped his case. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled in July that Slaughter's firing was unlawful. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in D.C. upheld that ruling in a 2-1 decision, stating that FTC commissioners can only be removed for cause, defined as neglect or malfeasance in office.
Trump did not provide a reason for firing Slaughter, and the appeals court determined that the government is unlikely to succeed on appeal. Slaughter returned to her position at the FTC following the appeals court's decision. This case, along with the attempt to remove Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook, appointed by former President Joe Biden, raises questions about whether Trump had legal cause to dismiss federal regulators. The issue of "cause" is central to these recent legal challenges.