Rebecca Slaughter remains prevented from resuming her role at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for now, following a recent Supreme Court ruling.
The United States Supreme Court has agreed to review a pivotal case concerning whether President Donald Trump holds the authority to dismiss a Democratic FTC commissioner despite statutory protections enacted by Congress to safeguard such positions.
Announced on Monday, the Court’s decision effectively maintains the status quo, keeping Rebecca Slaughter from her seat at the federal agency responsible for consumer protection and antitrust enforcement while the legal proceedings continue.
Oral arguments are scheduled for December, marking the next phase in this high-profile dispute.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court issued an emergency stay that temporarily upheld Trump’s power to remove Slaughter, reversing a prior ruling by US District Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington, DC, which had blocked the dismissal before the commissioner’s term concluded.
Chief Justice John Roberts intervened on September 8 by pausing Judge AliKhan’s injunction, thereby permitting the president to keep Slaughter out of office as the Court deliberates on the administration’s appeal.
At the heart of the controversy lies the question of presidential authority over independent agency officials who benefit from removal protections designed by Congress to ensure agency autonomy from executive influence.
Under federal statutes, the president may only remove FTC commissioners for specific causes such as inefficiency, neglect of duty, or misconduct-not for political disagreements. Comparable safeguards exist for members of other independent bodies like the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).
Slaughter was among two Democratic commissioners whom Trump sought to dismiss in March, a move that sparked strong opposition from Democratic lawmakers and antitrust advocates who viewed it as an attempt to weaken dissent within the agency against large corporate interests.
In a related development, the Supreme Court previously allowed Trump to proceed with firing members of the NLRB and MSPB despite similar removal protections, while legal challenges to those actions were underway.
The Court reasoned that the Constitution grants the president broad discretion to remove officials exercising executive authority, noting that both the NLRB and MSPB perform significant executive functions.
Following this logic, the Court also permitted Trump to remove three Democratic commissioners from the federal consumer product safety commission during ongoing litigation over their dismissals.
The administration has consistently petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn lower court rulings that hinder the implementation of Trump’s policies. Since his return to office in January, the Court’s conservative majority (6-3) has largely ruled in favor of the administration in such disputes.
Additionally, Trump has attempted to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, further illustrating his efforts to reshape federal agencies.
Since the ousting of Slaughter and her fellow Democratic commissioner, the FTC has functioned predominantly with a Republican majority, lacking any Democratic representation for much of this period.
Under this new composition, the agency has advanced a conservative agenda, including hosting a forum addressing concerns about gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender youth. The FTC also cautioned Google against categorizing Republican fundraising emails as spam and launched inquiries into media watchdog groups accused by billionaire Elon Musk of facilitating advertiser boycotts against his social media platform, X.
