“This Court may enable the gradual transfer of authority, piece by piece, from one branch of Government to another,” she wrote, cautioning against bypassing traditional deliberative processes.
While the ruling is not final, it directly challenges the 1935 decision in Humphrey’s Executor, a landmark case that limited the president’s power to dismiss officials from independent agencies without cause. In that case, the Court ruled unanimously that President Franklin Roosevelt could not remove a commissioner from the Federal Trade Commission simply for opposing his policies.
In this current dispute, President Biden appointed three commissioners to the CPSC in 2021. The CPSC oversees consumer safety standards, investigates product hazards, and manages recalls.
The commissioners filed a lawsuit after being dismissed by President Trump before the end of their terms. They argued that CPSC leadership should be protected from removal without cause, citing the agency’s status as an independent body.
A federal judge in Maryland initially sided with the commissioners, ordering their temporary reinstatement. When the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to intervene, the Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court.
The high court’s recent ruling allows the administration to proceed with the removals while the legal case continues in the lower courts.
The long-term impact of this decision remains to be seen, but legal experts suggest it could reshape how presidents interact with independent federal agencies going forward.