June 30, 2026
The US Supreme Court's decision to hand Donald Trump broad authority to fire regulatory agency heads caps off a decades-long conservative push to strengthen the president's grip on key levers of government power.
Monday's 6-3 ruling, powered by the court's conservatives, determined that a president can remove agency officials who wield executive power, such as Democratic Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter, whose firing was upheld despite removal protections provided in law by Congress.
The court, however, signalled that the decision should not be seen as undermining the Federal Reserve's independence.
The justices described the US central bank as possessing a unique historical tradition, and in a separate case on Monday refused to let Trump fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
