The Beltway Buzz is a weekly update summarizing labor and employment news from inside the Beltway and clarifying how what’s happening in Washington, D.C., could impact your business.
SCOTUS: FTC Removal Protections Are Unconstitutional. On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the provision of federal law limiting the president’s ability to remove commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) only for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office” violated the United States Constitution’s separation of powers. The ruling was the result of former FTC commissioner Rebecca Slaughter’s legal challenge to her removal from the Commission by President Donald Trump in March 2025. Because “[t]he FTC unquestionably exercises executive power, and must therefore be controlled by the Chief Executive,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, “It follows, then, that Slaughter served as the President’s subordinate at the FTC—and that the President was entitled to cut her tenure short.”
The decision will undoubtedly play a significant role in resolving ongoing legal challenges to the president’s ability to remove members from the National Labor Relations Board and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Ultimately, the Supreme Court’s Slaughter decision vests more power in the executive branch, with at least one result likely to be more dramatic policy swings with each new administration. Brian E. Hayes and Zachary V. Zagger have more...
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump resurrected long-debunked claims about fraud and foreign interference in the 2020 election, alleging in an address Thursday that China stole millions of voter...