The Supreme Court on Monday allowed President Donald Trump to continue excluding Democratic Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter from her position, temporarily blocking lower court orders that had deemed her removal unlawful and enabled her brief return to the agency.
Chief Justice John Roberts issued an administrative stay that paused a federal district court ruling requiring Slaughter’s reinstatement while the full court considers Trump’s emergency request for permanent authority to fire the commissioner. The order did not provide explanation for the decision, as is typical with such temporary measures.
The legal dispute began in March 2025 when Trump notified both Slaughter and fellow Democratic commissioner Alvaro Bedoya via email that they had been removed from the FTC because their continued service was inconsistent with his administration’s priorities. The notification did not cite any of the specific reasons federal law requires for removing commissioners: inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.
Both commissioners challenged their dismissals in federal court in Washington, D.C. Bedoya later resigned in June, citing financial reasons as he was no longer receiving government salary but could not obtain other employment while serving on the commission. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan subsequently dismissed Bedoya’s claims as moot.
On July 17, AliKhan ordered Trump’s administration to reinstate Slaughter, determining that existing law on FTC commissioner removal was clear. The judge acknowledged that the Supreme Court had previously allowed the government to fire members of other agencies, including the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board, but emphasized that any suggestion the 1935 precedent might not extend to other agencies could not be interpreted as permission to bypass its application to the FTC.
The case centers on the Supreme Court’s 1935 decision in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, which upheld federal law restricting presidential authority to remove FTC commissioners without specific cause. That ruling emerged from President Franklin Roosevelt’s firing of an FTC commissioner over policy differences and established that presidents lack unfettered power to dismiss commission members.
A divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected Trump’s request to pause AliKhan’s order on September 2. Judges Patricia Millett and Nina Pillard concluded that the Trump administration had no likelihood of success on appeal given controlling Supreme Court precedent. Judge Neomi Rao dissented, arguing the FTC exercises significant executive power and that other factors favored the government.
Trump’s legal team filed their emergency request with the Supreme Court on September 4, arguing Slaughter’s case was indistinguishable from previous cases where the court had cleared the way for presidential removals. U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer contended that the appeals court majority had applied an overly expansive reading of the 1935 precedent that the Supreme Court has since repudiated.
Slaughter opposed the administrative stay request, emphasizing that such relief would be inappropriate when lower courts had simply followed directly controlling precedent. She noted that as the sole Democratic member on a commission with a three-Republican majority, her reinstatement would not result in meaningful regulatory action opposed by the commission majority.
Following the Supreme Court’s action, Slaughter stated she would “see this case through to the end.” She indicated that her brief week back at the FTC made it clear that bipartisan independent agencies desperately need the transparency and accountability Congress intended.
During her temporary return to the agency, Slaughter participated in several key decisions, including dissenting against the FTC’s decision to abandon defense of its non-compete clause rule. She expressed concern about significant staff departures and described returning to an agency that appeared totally transformed.
The Trump administration has argued that the modern FTC exercises far more substantial powers than the 1935 version, justifying presidential authority to remove commissioners at will. This position aligns with the administration’s broader challenge to congressional restrictions on presidential control over executive branch agencies.
The Supreme Court, which maintains a 6-3 conservative majority, has sided with the Trump administration in nearly every case it has reviewed since his return to the presidency in January. The court has previously expressed skepticism about independent federal agencies designed to operate with limited presidential oversight.
Roberts instructed Slaughter to file her opposition to the government’s full stay application by 4 p.m. on September 15. The five-member FTC operates with commissioners serving seven-year terms, with no more than three members allowed from the same political party. Slaughter, originally appointed by Trump in 2018, was renominated by former President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate without opposition last year.