Fired FTC Commissioner Takes Independence Fight To SCOTUS

Allowing President Trump to fire independent agency commissioners without legal cause would “profoundly destabilize institutions” at the heart of American governance, the attorneys representing Rebecca Slaughter argue in a brief filed on Friday.

Why it matters: The last Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission is not only embroiled in a legal battle to get her job back, she’s challenging the White House over its broader effort to set a new precedent on the president’s authority.

Driving the news: The Supreme Court will hear arguments in Trump v. Slaughter on Dec. 8.

• The case has ended up at the high court after Slaughter won her job back in lower court, and the administration appealed and won a stay.
• Trump first tried to fire Slaughter and her fellow Democratic commissioner Alvaro Bedoya in March.
• The court could potentially overturn Humphrey’s Executor, a precedent from 1935, or rule that Trump overstepped his power.

What they’re saying: “Overruling a century of precedent at this late date would profoundly destabilize institutions that are now inextricably intertwined with the fabric of American governance,” Slaughter’s attorneys write in the brief.

• “Multimember independent agencies are deeply ingrained in our Nation’s history and tradition, from the First Congress to the present day.”
• The lawyers write that the Trump administration has admitted in filings that Federal Reserve members may not be removed at will because of the Federal Reserve’s history, but that the FTC has the same history and firing commissioners without cause violates the Constitution.

A press release from Protect Democracy, a nonprofit working with Slaughter, accompanying the brief states that “overturning Humphrey’s Executor and handing the reins of these carefully-structured agencies directly to the President would amount to a significant and direct transfer of power to the President.”

The other side: The White House has argued repeatedly that Trump has the constitutional authority to fire and remove executive officers.