The district court had held that Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the FTC Act’s for-cause removal protections, controlled.
The U.S. Supreme Court, on an application for stay by the Trump Administration of a district court order reinstating an FTC Commissioner, and referred to the Court by Chief Justice John Roberts, was granted. The parties were directed to brief and argue the following questions: (1) whether the statutory removal protections for members of the Federal Trade Commission violate the separation of powers and, if so, whether Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, 295 U. S. 602 (1935), should be overruled; and (2) whether a federal court may prevent a person’s removal from public office, either through relief at equity or at law. Justice Kagan dissented from grant of the application for a stay, joined by Justices Sotomayor and Jackson (Trump v. Slaughter, No. 25-332 (U.S. Sept. 22, 2025)).
Removal of FTC Commissioner. In March 2025, Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, a Democrat originally nominated to the FTC by President Trump in 2018, received an email from the Deputy Director of Presidential Personnel purportedly removing her from her position. Shortly thereafter, she was unable to access her work emails, government servers, and digital files. She was also denied access to FTC offices and members of her staff were placed on administrative leave or reassigned to other positions within the...
Top News The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, says the Federal Government’s high-level delegation currently in the United States is actively confronting and corre...