Supreme Court allows Trump to keep FTC commissioner off payroll for now

By John Fritze, CNN

(CNN) — Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday allowed President Donald Trump to remove a member of the Federal Trade Commission for now, a temporary win for the White House as it extends control over independent agencies throughout the federal government.

The short-term order, known as an administrative stay, is designed to give the justices more time to review Trump’s emergency request to fire Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, who has served on the FTC since 2018. Roberts handles emergency appeals rising from the federal court of appeals in Washington.

By itself, Roberts’ order does not signal whether Trump will ultimately win his appeal in Slaughter’s case. Roberts ordered Slaughter’s legal team to respond to Trump’s emergency appeal by September 15.

Roberts’ order, which offered no explanation, will allow Trump to keep Slaughter out of work until the high court resolves the emergency case.

A divided federal appeals court had ordered Slaughter to be reinstated while the litigation over her firing plays out. The administration responded with an emergency appeal at the Supreme Court days later.

Trump fired Slaughter and another Democratic FTC commissioner in March. The agency enforces anti-trust and consumer protection laws. Its five board members, appointed by the president, serve seven-year terms and no more than three commissioners can be of the same political party.

Slaughter told CNN that she respects the court’s decision and intends “to see this case through to the end.”

“In the week I was back at the FTC it became even more clear to me that we desperately need the transparency and accountability Congress intended to have at bipartisan independent agencies,” she said in a statement.

It was Trump himself who first placed Slaughter on the board in 2018. Former President Joe Biden nominated her for a second term, and the Senate confirmed her without opposition last year.

A federal district court ordered her reinstatement in July and an appeals court in Washington, DC, ultimately declined to overturn that ruling.

While the Supreme Court has allowed Trump to keep the board members off the payroll in other cases, it has drawn a line of protection around the Federal Reserve, calling it a “uniquely structured, quasi-private entity that follows in the distinct historical tradition.”

Federal law limits the circumstance under which a president may fire the leadership at many independent agencies, requiring a demonstration of “cause,” such as malfeasance.

But the Supreme Court has looked skeptically at those laws in other circumstances, noting that the president – as the head of the executive branch – generally has power to fire employees at will.

For the Fed, Trump has recently opened a new line of attack, arguing that he has cause to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook over allegation of mortgage fraud. Cook has not been charged with any wrongdoing and she has sued Trump over her dismissal.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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