U.S. Supreme Court Allows President to Fire Heads of Independent Agencies for First Time in 90 Years

The court ruled that Donald Trump may fire the heads of independent federal agencies and commissions, overturning a precedent that had been in force since 1935.

The decision was issued in the case of former Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter. In 2025, Trump notified her by email that she had been dismissed, saying her continued service as a commissioner was “incompatible with the administration’s priorities.”

Slaughter then sued the Trump administration, arguing that she had been fired without legal grounds. A lower court ordered that she be reinstated.

In challenging the lawsuit, the White House asked the Supreme Court to overturn the 1935 precedent under which the president could not fire a member of the Federal Trade Commission without legal grounds. That precedent limited the president’s powers over independent federal agencies.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the White House by six votes to three.

Trump welcomed the ruling, calling it “historic, unprecedented and one of the most important in history on the question of presidential powers.”

“Presidents of the United States have sought such a decision for a long time, going back to the 1930s. It is a tremendous honor for me to be the sitting president who achieved this historic and unprecedented decision—one of the most important in history on the question of presidential powers,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.