Trump v. Slaughter
Question presented
(1) Whether the statutory removal protections for members of the Federal Trade Commission violate the separation of powers and, if so, whether Humphrey's Executor v. United States, 295 U.S. 602 (1935), should be overruled. (2) Whether a federal court may prevent a person's removal from public office, either through relief at equity or at law.
Background
President Trump removed Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter from the Federal Trade Commission in March 2025 without invoking the statutory grounds for removal. The District Court reinstated her; the D.C. Circuit denied a stay. The Supreme Court granted the stay, treated the application as a petition for certiorari before judgment, and granted the petition. The case asks whether the for-cause removal restriction in 15 U.S.C. § 41 is constitutional as applied to FTC Commissioners exercising the modern FTC's executive powers.
Procedural posture
- Argued
- December 8, 2025
- Decided
- Pending
- Tenth Seat opinion published
- May 12, 2026
- Term
- OT 2025
The Tenth Seat
- Opinion of the Courtread →
Reverse and remand. The for-cause removal restriction in 15 U.S.C. § 41 is unconstitutional as applied to Commissioners of the modern Federal Trade Commission. The removal restriction is severed; the agency continues in operation. Question 2 not reached.
- Dissentread →
Affirm. The for-cause removal restriction is constitutional under Humphrey's Executor and the body of precedent that has reaffirmed it. Stare decisis, founding-era practice, and the limiting-principle problem with the majority's theory each independently support affirmance.
- Sources & Verificationread →
The case synthesis, oral argument signals, precedent analysis, and citation verification log behind these opinions.
- Comparison with the Court’s decisionPending decision
Published within seven days of the Court’s opinion. Will score outcome alignment, reasoning alignment, citation overlap, and what the Tenth Seat missed.