GoKawiilSupreme Court takes sledgehammer to much of federal government's regulatory structure
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The Supreme Court's conservative majority took a sledgehammer to much of the federal government's regulatory structure Monday, striking down almost all the limits that Congress — and the courts — had previously established to protect the independence of regulatory agencies that make up roughly a third of the federal government.
The court's decision reversed a 90-year-old precedent that had protected multimember and term-limited agency heads from being fired, except for misconduct or malfeasance in office. The decision could also open the door to allowing presidents to fire at will not just agency leaders, but potentially lower-level government experts who have been protected by the Civil Service Reform Act since 1883. In a Truth Social post, President Trump called the decision a "BIG WIN," one of the most important rulings "ever given with respect to Presidential Powers."
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Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion for the court's six conservative justices, with the three liberals in dissent. Quoting President George Washington, Roberts said that in order to discharge his duties, the president must have the assistance of officers he can trust. And although it is up to the Senate to decide whether to confirm those with whom the president would prefer to work, neither Congress nor the courts can saddle him with people he can't work with.
Just how far down the chain of command that mandate reaches is unclear. Could the president fire apolitical scientific or health experts, nuclear weapons specialists, weather predictors or accountants, Social Security caseworkers, or even secretaries?
Yes, says Jacob Huebert, a senior litigation counsel for the conservative New Civil Liberties Alliance, which filed a brief in the case supporting Trump's position.
"The president is in charge of the executive branch. That means the whole executive branch, not just the officials at the top but people underneath that as well," he says. "Whether those are officials high up in an agency or down low in an agency," they are ultimately controlled solely by the president, according to Huebert.
Monday's ruling is the greatest expansion of presidential power since the court, just two years ago, ruled that even former presidents are broadly immune from prosecution for their official acts while in office.
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