US supreme court conservatives appear poised to back Trump in FTC firing case
After more than two hours of oral arguments, the court appeared poised to back the Trump administration’s argument that the president should be able to fire independent board members that for almost a century have been protected from presidential interference.
The justices appeared pretty firmly split down partisan lines, with the conservatives – including the sometimes swing vote of Justice Amy Coney Barrett – seeming to side with the administration.
After more than two hours of oral arguments in the high-stakes case of Slaughter v. Trump, the nation’s highest court appeared poised to back a historic expansion of executive power, signaling support for Donald Trump’s firing of independent board members that for almost a century have been protected from presidential whims.
At the heart of the issue is Trump’s March decision to fire Rebecca Slaughter from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) before the end of her term, despite a federal law designed to insulate the agency from political interference.
John Yoo, who served as a justice department lawyer under George W Bush, told Reuters the case presents “one of the most important questions over the last century on the workings of the federal government”. “The future of the independence of the administrative state is at issue,” he said.
The justices appeared pretty firmly split down partisan lines, with the 6-3 conservative wing – including the sometimes swing vote of Justice Amy Coney Barrett – seeming to side with the Trump administration’s argument that the president should be able to fire members of independent agencies, and expressing scepticism to concerns raised by the other side that this could lead to a significant remaking of the federal government.
Solicitor general John D Sauer repeatedly argued that independent agencies like the FTC are a “headless fourth branch” with limited government oversight and that, in general, “independent agencies are not accountable to the people”. He argued that the key 90-year precedent, Humphrey’s Executor, “must be overruled”, describing the ruling as a “decaying husk with bold, and particularly dangerous pretensions”.
Regarding the 1935 precedent ruling, chief justice John Roberts said, that historic precedent has “nothing to do with what the FTC looks like today”. That decision, he said, “was addressing an agency that had very little, if any executive power”. Justice Samuel Alitoalsosaid he was skeptical of wide-ranging ramifications of allowing the president to fire leaders of multi-member independent commissions. Justices Bret Kavanaugh, Roberts and Coney Barrett also aimed to draw distinctions between the FTC and the Federal Reserve, seeming likely to back continuing to shield the Fed from political interference.
The liberal justices, on the other hand, appeared sympathetic to the lawyer for fired FTC commissioner Rebecca Slaughter’s warning that “there are real-world risks that are palpable” in allowing a president the power to fire leaders of independent agencies. Doing so meant that “everything is on the chopping block”, Amit Agarwal said.
Sounding the alarm, liberal justice Sonia Sotomayor said that independent agencies have existed throughout US history. “You’re asking us to destroy the structure of government and to take away from Congress its ability to protect its idea that a government is better structured with some agencies that are independent,” she said. Justice Elena Kagan warned that the court should not ignore “the real-world realities” of what its decisions do. “The result of what you want is that the president is going to have massive, unchecked, uncontrolled power,” she told Sauer. “What you are left with is a president … with control over everything.”
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson also expressed doubt that more presidential firing power is better for democracy and emphasized that centering so much power under presidential control would undermine issues that Congress decided should be handled by nonpartisan experts in independent agencies. “Having a president come in and fire all the scientists, and the doctors, and the economists and the PhDs, and replacing them with loyalists and people who don’t know anything is actually not in the best interest of the citizens of the United States,” she said.
A decision in the case is expected before the end of June next year.
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After more than two hours of oral arguments, the court appeared poised to back the Trump administration’s argument that the president should be able to fire independent board members that for almost a century have been protected from presidential interference.
The justices appeared pretty firmly split down partisan lines, with the conservatives – including the sometimes swing vote of Justice Amy Coney Barrett – seeming to side with the administration.
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The bench just wrapped its questions to the administration’s lawyer, solicitor general D John Sauer.
“Multi-member commissions with members enjoying some kind of removal protection have been part of our story since 1790,” Agarwal said in his opening remarks. “So if petitioners are right, all three branches of government have been wrong from the start.”
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Justice Sonia Sotomayor, one of three liberal justices on the bench, seemed unconvinced with the administration’s argument off the bat.
“You’re asking us to destroy the structure of government,” she told solicitor general D John Sauer. “To take away from Congress its ability to protect its idea that a government is better structured with some agencies that are independent.”
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Arguments in the case that will decide whether Donald Trump can fire officials from independent agencies have started.
He describes the ruling as a “decaying husk with bold, and particularly dangerous pretensions” that ultimately creates a “headless fourth branch insulated from political accountability and democratic control”.
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In less than an hour, the supreme court will here arguments in a landmark case that tests Donald Trump’s ability to fire officials.
Earlier this year, the president moved to fire Rebecca Slaughter, a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission. Trump actually appointed her to the position back in 2018, and she was re-confirmed for a second term under Joe Biden that was set to expire in 2029.
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Slaughter during a House judiciary committee hearing in Washington DC, 13 July 2023.»,»caption»:»Rebecca Slaughter during a House judiciary committee hearing in Washington DC, 13 July 2023.»,»credit»:»Photograph: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images»}},{«_type»:»model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement»,»html»:»
One of the main questions the nine-justice bench will consider today is whether to overturn a key 1935 decision which established that the president requires Congress’ signoff to fire an official from an independent government agency, and it needs to be “for cause”.
Slaughter’s case is the latest emergency appeal that the supreme court will hear from the Trump administration, after a lower court judge blocked her firing, and an appeal court upheld that decision. A reminder that, in May, the court allowed Trump to remove two Democratic members of the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board – despite job protections for these posts – while litigation challenging those removals proceeded. And in September, they deferred action on the Department of Justice’s request to allow Trump to fire Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, at least until it hears oral arguments on the case in January.
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Axios broke the news of Pamela Smith’s resignation. Speaking to the outlet, she said: “There comes a time when you just know it’s time.”
Speaking to Fox 5 about her decision to resign, the outgoing police chief said it was a “tough” decision and was made to spend more time with her family.
I have been going nonstop. I have missed many amazing celebrations, birthdays, marriages, you name it, within our family.
n
And being able to come home for thanksgiving two years after my mum passed really resonated with me and has allowed me to make a decision that I think is necessary not just only for me but also for my family.
Smith is expected to step down on 31 December and the mayor’s office will name an interim chief shortly, according to Axios.
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In a statement, Pamela Smith said she was “deeply humbled, grateful and deeply appreciative” of her time in her role, which she described as the “greatest honor” of her career. She gave thanks to the mayor for appointing her in 2023 and supporting her throughout her tenure, which she acknowledged had been both “challenging and rewarding”.
I am confident that the department is in a strong position and that the great work will continue, moving in a positive trajectory to combat crime and enhance public safety. Washington, DC is an extraordinary place to live, visit, and work, and I remain inspired by the resilience and spirit of this community.
n
I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to serve in this capacity as Chief of Police. It has been an honor to lead the men and women of the Metropolitan Police Department, and I will always carry with the me the pride of having served this city.
n
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When Chief Smith stepped up to lead the Metropolitan Police Department, we had no time to waste. She came in at a very challenging time for our community, when there was significant urgency to reverse the crime trends our city was facing post pandemic. Within a year of her tenure, we opened the Real-Time Crime Center.
n
We deployed newer and better technology. We worked with the Council to pass comprehensive legislation that prioritizes accountability. And Chief Smith got all of this done while also navigating unprecedented challenges and attacks on our city’s autonomy.
n
Chief Smith dramatically drove down violent crime, drove down the homicide rate to its lowest levels in eight years, and helped us restore a sense of safety and accountability in our neighborhoods. We are grateful for her service to Washington, DC.
n
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Bowser thanked the outgoing police chief for her service to Washington in difficult times.»,»caption»:»Muriel Bowser thanked the outgoing police chief for her service to Washington in difficult times. «,»credit»:»Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein/AP»}}],»attributes»:{«pinned»:false,»keyEvent»:true,»summary»:false},»blockCreatedOn»:1765195484000,»blockCreatedOnDisplay»:»13.04 CET»,»blockLastUpdated»:1765196999000,»blockLastUpdatedDisplay»:»13.29 CET»,»blockFirstPublished»:1765195792000,»blockFirstPublishedDisplay»:»13.09 CET»,»blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone»:»13.09″,»title»:»Washington DC Mayor says outgoing police chief helped ‘restore a sense of safety’ in the city»,»contributors»:[],»primaryDateLine»:»Mon 8 Dec 2025 20.05 CET»,»secondaryDateLine»:»First published on Mon 8 Dec 2025 10.57 CET»},{«id»:»6936bad88f0820589cc29960″,»elements»:[{«_type»:»model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement»,»html»:»
Pamela Smith, the chief of the Metropolitan police department,is stepping down after two and a half years on the job, the Washington DC mayor, Muriel Bowser, has announced.
Bowser appointed Smith to the position in July 2023, when she became the second woman and first Black woman to permanently run the agency since its founding in 1861.
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US Democrats on Sunday pushed the Trump administration to release video of a second strike on an alleged drug boat incapacitated in the Caribbean, continuing to escalate pressure on the Pentagon amid accusations the attack was unlawful.
That killing has been met with intense scrutiny and accusations of war crimes after the Washington Post reported defense secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill them all”.
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Pete Hegseth shows no sign of backing down, calls from Democrats for his resignation are intensifying.»,»caption»:»While Pete Hegseth shows no sign of backing down, calls from Democrats for his resignation are intensifying.»,»credit»:»Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters»}},{«_type»:»model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement»,»html»:»
Adm Frank Bradley of the US navy, who oversaw the attack, told lawmakers on Thursday there was no such order – and the Pentagon has defended the legality of the attack. Experts have said the defense is legally shaky.
“If the Pentagon and our defense secretary are so proud of what they’re doing, let the American people see that video,” Adam Schiff, a Democratic senator from California, said during an interview on Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press.
“Let the American people see two people standing on a capsized boat, or sitting on a capsized boat, and deliberately killed and decide for themselves whether they’re proud of what the country is doing. I can’t imagine people would be proud of that.”
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A proposal to redraw Indiana’s congressional boundaries faces its first public test in the state Senate later today, with uncertainty over whether it will pass.
Redistricting is typically done once a decade after the census. But Donald Trump has put pressure on GOP states in recent months to redraw their maps ahead of next year’s midterms, with the president wanting to protect the Republicans’ thin majority in the House.
Several Republican senators have indicated their opposition to the redrawing of the map mid-decade despite the pressure coming from the White House. Republicans currently hold seven of the state’s nine districts.
The newly drawn map – passed by the Republican super majority in the state House on Friday – splits the city of Indianapolis into four districts, distributed across other Republican-leaning areas. It also groups the cities of East Chicago and Gary with a wide swath of rural counties in northern Indiana. The contours would eliminate the districts of the state’s two Democratic congressional representatives.
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Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of US politics. Lawmakers have unveiled an annual defense policy bill authorizing a record $901bn in national security spending next year.
The sweeping 3,000-page bill includes a 4% raise for enlisted troops, with the legislation seeking to codify some of Donald Trump’s executive orders, including those aimed at accelerating American manufacturing of drones, and developing the so-called “Golden Dome” missile defense system that the White House envisions will protect the US from possible foreign strikes.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives will be cut under the bill, which will see troops deployed to the south-west US border to apparently intercept undocumented immigrants and drugs.
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of the House Mike Johnson said the bill advances the Trump administration’s agenda.»,»caption»:»Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said the bill advances the Trump administration’s agenda. «,»credit»:»Photograph: Maansi Srivastava/EPA»}},{«_type»:»model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement»,»html»:»
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said the legislation would advance Trump’s agenda by “ending woke ideology at the Pentagon, securing the border, revitalizing the defense industrial base, and restoring the warrior ethos.”
European officials will be pleased to read that the bill prevents the Pentagon from cutting the number of troops permanently stationed or deployed to Europe below 76,000 for more than 45 days.
This is unless the defense secretary and head of the US European Command certify to Congress that the deployment is against America’s national security interest, and will have to provide assessments of the withdrawal’s impact, among other requirements.
On another foreign policy front, the bill repeals two resolutions authorizing the use of military force in Iraq in 1991 and 2002. Stay with us as we bring you more on this story and the other major political developments from the US.
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Key events
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In a short while we’ll hear from Donald Trump at the White House. He’s set to appear at a roundtable alongside the treasury secretary and agriculture secretary to unveil a new $12bn support package for American farmers. We’ll bring you the key lines here.
Key takeaways from supreme court hearing on FTC firing case
After more than two hours of oral arguments in the high-stakes case of Slaughter v. Trump, the nation’s highest court appeared poised to back a historic expansion of executive power, signaling support for Donald Trump’s firing of independent board members that for almost a century have been protected from presidential whims.
At the heart of the issue is Trump’s March decision to fire Rebecca Slaughter from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) before the end of her term, despite a federal law designed to insulate the agency from political interference.
John Yoo, who served as a justice department lawyer under George W Bush, told Reuters the case presents “one of the most important questions over the last century on the workings of the federal government”. “The future of the independence of the administrative state is at issue,” he said.
The justices appeared pretty firmly split down partisan lines, with the 6-3 conservative wing – including the sometimes swing vote of Justice Amy Coney Barrett – seeming to side with the Trump administration’s argument that the president should be able to fire members of independent agencies, and expressing scepticism to concerns raised by the other side that this could lead to a significant remaking of the federal government.
Solicitor general John D Sauer repeatedly argued that independent agencies like the FTC are a “headless fourth branch” with limited government oversight and that, in general, “independent agencies are not accountable to the people”. He argued that the key 90-year precedent, Humphrey’s Executor, “must be overruled”, describing the ruling as a “decaying husk with bold, and particularly dangerous pretensions”.
Regarding the 1935 precedent ruling, chief justice John Roberts said, that historic precedent has “nothing to do with what the FTC looks like today”. That decision, he said, “was addressing an agency that had very little, if any executive power”. Justice Samuel Alitoalsosaid he was skeptical of wide-ranging ramifications of allowing the president to fire leaders of multi-member independent commissions. Justices Bret Kavanaugh, Roberts and Coney Barrett also aimed to draw distinctions between the FTC and the Federal Reserve, seeming likely to back continuing to shield the Fed from political interference.
The liberal justices, on the other hand, appeared sympathetic to the lawyer for fired FTC commissioner Rebecca Slaughter’s warning that “there are real-world risks that are palpable” in allowing a president the power to fire leaders of independent agencies. Doing so meant that “everything is on the chopping block”, Amit Agarwal said.
Sounding the alarm, liberal justice Sonia Sotomayor said that independent agencies have existed throughout US history. “You’re asking us to destroy the structure of government and to take away from Congress its ability to protect its idea that a government is better structured with some agencies that are independent,” she said. Justice Elena Kagan warned that the court should not ignore “the real-world realities” of what its decisions do. “The result of what you want is that the president is going to have massive, unchecked, uncontrolled power,” she told Sauer. “What you are left with is a president … with control over everything.”
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson also expressed doubt that more presidential firing power is better for democracy and emphasized that centering so much power under presidential control would undermine issues that Congress decided should be handled by nonpartisan experts in independent agencies. “Having a president come in and fire all the scientists, and the doctors, and the economists and the PhDs, and replacing them with loyalists and people who don’t know anything is actually not in the best interest of the citizens of the United States,” she said.
A decision in the case is expected before the end of June next year.
Liberal justice Ketanji Brown Jackson also expressed doubt that more presidential firing power is better for democracy.
“You seem to think that there’s something about the president that requires him to control everything as a matter of democratic accountability, when, on the other side, we have Congress saying we’d like these particular agencies and officers to be independent of presidential control for the good of the people,” she told Sauer.
Jackson also emphasized that centering so much power under presidential control would undermine issues that Congress decided should be handled by non-partisan expertsin independent agencies.
So having a president come in and fire all the scientists, and the doctors, and the economists and the PhDs, and replacing them with loyalists and people who don’t know anything is actually not in the best interest of the citizens of the United States.
And to expand on liberal justice Sonia Sotomayor’s comments that we reported earlier, she said independent agencies have existed throughout US history, and challenged Sauer to explain why the court should make such a drastic change to the structure of government.
Neither the king, nor parliament nor prime ministers in England at the time of the founding [of the United States] ever had an unqualified removal power.
You’re asking us to destroy the structure of government and to take away from Congress its ability to protect its idea that a government is better structured with some agencies that are independent.
Earlier, liberal justice Elena Kagan said the court should not ignore “the real-world realities” of what its decisions do. She told Sauer:
The result of what you want is that the president is going to have massive, unchecked, uncontrolled power – not only to do traditional execution, but to make law through legislative and adjudicative frameworks.
What you are left with is a president … with control over everything, including over much of the lawmaking that happens in this country.
Sauer countered that the impact would be the president “having control over the executive branch, which he must and does have under our constitution”.
US supreme court conservatives appear poised to back Trump in FTC firing case
After more than two hours of oral arguments, the court appeared poised to back the Trump administration’s argument that the president should be able to fire independent board members that for almost a century have been protected from presidential interference.
The justices appeared pretty firmly split down partisan lines, with the conservatives – including the sometimes swing vote of Justice Amy Coney Barrett – seeming to side with the administration.
Issuing his brief rebuttal, the administration’s lawyer, solicitor general D John Sauer, encourages the court to overturn the nearly century-old decision protecting board members from removal, calling it a “decaying husk”, and to “restore the separation of powers to our government”.
He says that if the justices construe the president’s powers narrowly, “then we have a situation where Congress could erect virtual, reconstruct, virtually the entire executive branch outside the president’s control.
“And that is not even a republican form of government,” he adds. “But that is the logic of the position that’s being advanced here. That is the parade of horrible as the court ought to consider.”
Agarwal says he absolutely accepts the interpretation of the vesting clause of Article II that established a general default presidential removal power, “but the constitutional text clearly delineates the boundary between the president’s power and Congress’s power with respect to removal”.
In addition, Agarwal highlights the vast historical scholarship that indicates the original understanding “that significant governmental authority absolutely could be vested in commissions that were not subject to plenary presidential control, that every single member was not subject to presidential control”.
Agarwal cites historical evidence that “affirm a rich body of recent historical scholarship that supports the conclusion that the history surrounding this issue is at a minimum contestable”.
And there is a whole lot of history that supports the proposition that the first president of the United States and the first Congress did not believe that the president always and everywhere had to have absolute, illimitable, indefeasible power to fire every single head of any kind of commission exercizing any significant governmental authority.
He says he’s asking the court to give effect not just to the decision of 1789, but also to the decision of 1790.
The other side wants a “maximalist interpretation” of the 1790 decision, he says. That decision settled the question of whether the Senate should be able to interfere with presidential removals, he agrees, but everything else is highly contestable at a minimum.
“That is all the more reason for this court to be cautious in developing heavy-handed constitutional rules that don’t have a clear basis in constitutional text,” he says.
Justice Sotomayor says that most of the original powers of the FTC when Humphrey’s was decided are the same powers that exist today. She points out that the district judge outlined this as well.
The only power she’s identified that might be different is that the FTC’s cease-and-desist orders now have binding effect immediately, she says.
“So I think your point in response to Justice Alito is, if there’s a power that the FTC is wielding now that trenches inappropriately, the answer is not to do away with the ‘for cause’ removal; the answer is to eliminate that individual power,” she says. “So that should be the answer if there’s been an expansion of the powers inappropriately.”
Agarwal says that is correct and that is their position.
A quick reminder that, in September, the supreme court granted a justice department request to block a lower court’s order that shielded Rebecca Slaughter, from being dismissed from the consumer protection and antitrust agency before her term expires in 2029. She will remain fired until the court issue their decision.
While answering questions from justices today, Agarwal said that the “real world danger” if the administration is successful, is that “everything is on the chopping block”.
He added that there was “absolutely no principled basis” for “carving out” independent agencies from Congress’s purview.
“We’re talking about more than two dozen traditional independent agencies that have been established by statutes enacted by the people’s elected representatives and signed into law, all of them by democratically elected presidents,” Agarwal said.
Lawyer for fired FTC member says removal protection ‘has been part of our story since 1790’
The bench just wrapped its questions to the administration’s lawyer, solicitor general D John Sauer.
Arguing on behalf of Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, the fired Democratic member of the FTC, is Amit Agarwal.
“Multi-member commissions with members enjoying some kind of removal protection have been part of our story since 1790,” Agarwal said in his opening remarks. “So if petitioners are right, all three branches of government have been wrong from the start.”
Justice Jackson is now pushing back against the administration’s claims that these independent agencies aren’t answerable to Congress – which delegates their creation, oversight, budgets and laws.
“Part of your argument seemed to revolve around this notion that there’s some kind of thing happening with the independent agency that the reason why the president needs to control it is because they don’t answer to anybody,” she said.
“What I don’t understand from your overarching argument is why that determination of Congress, which makes perfect sense given its duty to protect the people of the United States, why that is subjugated to a concern about the president not being able to control everything.”
As he responds to questions from justices today, Sauer has repeatedly argued that independent agencies like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are a “headless fourth branch” with limited government oversight.
When responding to questions from justice Brett Kavanaugh, the solicitor general said that these agencies exercise “a great deal of control over individuals and business” but “ultimately do not answer to the president”.