Slaughter v. Trump (Slaughter FTC Appeal)
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Overview
Overview
Slaughter v. Trump (25A264) is the Supreme Court emergency application arising from President Trump's purported firing of FTC Commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya in February 2025. The district court ruled the firings unlawful under Humphrey's Executor (1935). The government sought an emergency stay and the Court granted certiorari on an expedited basis, consolidating with Cook v. Trump (Federal Reserve removal). Oral arguments were held December 8, 2025.
The Facts
Facts
President Trump fired FTC Commissioners Slaughter and Bedoya without cause in February 2025. The first attempt to remove sitting independent agency commissioners since FDR's removal of William Humphrey in 1933 (which gave rise to Humphrey's Executor). The commissioners remained in office under court order while litigation proceeded. The D.C. Circuit expedited review; the government simultaneously filed an emergency application at the Supreme Court seeking a stay of the lower-court orders requiring the commissioners' reinstatement.
The Issue
Issue
Whether the President has authority to remove members of multi-member independent regulatory commissions at will, and whether Humphrey's Executor v. United States (1935) should be overruled or narrowed.
The Rules
Rule
Humphrey's Executor v. United States, 295 U.S. 602 (1935) held Congress may protect independent agency commissioners from at-will removal. Seila Law LLC v. CFPB (2020) narrowed but did not overrule Humphrey's Executor for multi-member commissions. The unitary executive theory holds Article II vests the President with removal authority over all executive officers.
The Application
Analysis
The President's removal of sitting FTC Commissioners directly tests Humphrey's Executor's prohibition on at-will removal of independent agency officials. For the first time since FDR's original removal of William Humphrey 92 years prior. Under current law established by Seila Law, multi-member commissions retain greater removal protections than single-head agencies, but the government contends the President's unitary executive power to control subordinate officers overrides these structural limitations. The lower courts found the removal violated Humphrey's Executor because Congress established the FTC with explicit for-cause protections, reasoning that structural independence for multi-member bodies remains constitutionally permissible even under modern removal doctrine. The Supreme Court must decide whether Humphrey's Executor survives in its current form or whether intervening constitutional theory about presidential authority requires narrowing or eliminating the protection for independent commissioners.
The Conclusion
Application granted September 22, 2025. The Court stayed the July 17, 2025 order of the District Court for the District of Columbia that had barred interference with Commissioner Slaughter's service, allowing her removal to take effect while the case proceeded. The Court also treated the application as a petition for certiorari before judgment, granted it, and directed briefing on whether the FTC's statutory removal protections violate the separation of powers and, if so, whether Humphrey's Executor should be overruled, and on whether a federal court may prevent a person's removal from public office, with argument set for the December 2025 session. Kagan, J., dissented from the grant of the stay, joined by Sotomayor and Jackson, JJ. The stay terminated by its terms upon issuance of the Court's judgment. The merits case, No. 25-332, was decided June 29, 2026: the Court held the FTC's removal protections unconstitutional and overruled Humphrey's Executor.
Summary
Slaughter v. Trump (25A264) is the Supreme Court emergency application arising from President Trump's purported firing of FTC Commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya in February 2025. The district court ruled the firings unlawful under Humphrey's Executor (1935). The government sought an emergency stay and the Court granted certiorari on an expedited basis, consolidating with Cook v. Trump (Federal Reserve removal). Oral arguments were held December 8, 2025.
Facts
President Trump fired FTC Commissioners Slaughter and Bedoya without cause in February 2025. The first attempt to remove sitting independent agency commissioners since FDR's removal of William Humphrey in 1933 (which gave rise to Humphrey's Executor). The commissioners remained in office under court order while litigation proceeded. The D.C. Circuit expedited review; the government simultaneously filed an emergency application at the Supreme Court seeking a stay of the lower-court orders requiring the commissioners' reinstatement.
Issue
Whether the President has authority to remove members of multi-member independent regulatory commissions at will, and whether Humphrey's Executor v. United States (1935) should be overruled or narrowed.
Conclusion
Pending decision (argued December 8, 2025). The ruling will determine whether the President can remove the heads of all independent agencies at will. Affecting the SEC, FCC, NLRB, Federal Reserve, and every other multi-member commission. A ruling against the commissioners would end 90 years of structural independence for the federal regulatory state.
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