The Supreme Court on Monday issued opinions in two cases on whether President Donald Trump has the power to remove federal officials from their positions.
The justices handed Trump a win in one case, but then limited his executive authority in another.
The justices ruled 6-3 in the Trump v. Slaughter case with Chief Justice John Roberts writing the opinion for the majority. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote a concurring opinion.
Last year, Trump removed Rebecca Slaughter from her position as a commissioner for the Federal Trade Commission, saying that her service was inconsistent with his administration’s policies.
However, the FTC Act says the president can only remove commissioners if they were inefficient or neglect their duty or commit malfeasance.
The case represents a win for those who subscribe to the “unitary executive theory,” that the president should have sole authority over the executive branch. The ruling overturns precedent set in a 1935 case, Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, which allowed Congress to write protections into law for some executive branch officials.
“If anything more is left of Humphrey’s, we overrule it,” Roberts wrote.
Roberts wrote the president “must have the assistance of officers he can trust. 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 may saddle him with those with whom he cannot work."
The ruling was made along ideological lines, with the court’s three liberal justices dissenting. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a dissenting opinion with Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson concurring.
“Today, this Court undoes centuries of political practice and concludes that all three branches of Government have been acting in open defiance of the Constitution all this time,” she wrote.
Sotomayor argued the court should have respected the precedent, “not as a wooden exercise,” but rather a recognition that despite the present moment, there was “wisdom” in the founding document from the justices that came before them.
The president weighed in with a post on Truth Social, saying the Slaughter ruling was a “BIG WIN.”
“This decision was long sought by United States Presidents, dating all the way back to the 1930s. It is such an Honor to be the sitting President who won this Historic and Unprecedented Ruling, one of the most important ever given with respect to Presidential Powers,” Trump said.
Supreme Court says Fed is different
In a separate 5-4 opinion, the court said Trump could not fire Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors.
Roberts wrote the opinion for the majority and was joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
The administration alleges Cook committed mortgage fraud, which she disputes. Lower courts held that Cook was able to remain in her position at the Fed while she defended herself in court.
“The protection from removal enjoyed by Governors of the Federal Reserve is consistent with the Constitution. The Founders knew from experience the calamities that could arise from even the ‘suspicion’ of political manipulation of monetary policy,” Roberts wrote.
The Supreme Court upheld the lower court decision, allowing her to remain on the board while her case moves through the courts. It was the first time in the it’s 112-year history that a president attempted to fire a Fed board member.
Roberts argued that Trump didn’t provide Cook enough process to contest the allegations against her. He noted that the justices didn’t address the facts of the case in their ruling, but rather the arguments about the “appropriate legal standards.”
Cook will head back to the lower courts to argue her case, but the ruling Monday delivered Trump a loss.