{"slug":"scotus-humphreys-executor-overturned","title":"Supreme Court Overturns Humphrey's Executor, Lets Trump Fire FTC Commissioner — But Blocks Fed Governor Firing (June 2026)","date":"2026-06-29","lastUpdated":"2026-06-29","description":"On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Trump v. Slaughter that for-cause removal protections for FTC commissioners violate separation of powers, upholding Trump's 2025 firing of Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter and overturning the roughly 90-year-old Humphrey's Executor precedent — a ruling that strips independence from agencies structured like the FTC, potentially including the NLRB and MSPB. In a companion ruling issued the same day, the Court separately held that Trump lacks authority to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook while her lawsuit proceeds, leaving the question of Fed removal power formally unresolved for now. Cook had been targeted based on a mortgage-fraud accusation from a Trump-appointed official that she says was pretextual retaliation for resisting political pressure on interest-rate policy.","summary":"The Supreme Court overturned 90 years of settled law protecting independent regulatory agencies from direct presidential control, upholding Trump's firing of FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter in a 6-3 ruling. A companion decision the same day blocked Trump's attempt to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook — a partial check that survived, though the underlying firing attempt, based on an apparently pretextual mortgage-fraud allegation timed to her resistance on rate policy, is itself the documented harm. Together the rulings reveal a coordinated legal campaign to bring the entire independent regulatory state, including potentially the Fed, under direct presidential control.","category":"rule-of-law","severity":"critical","ongoing":true,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/29/supreme-court-trump-slaughter-ftc.html","title":"Supreme Court lets presidents fire independent regulators, rules for Trump in FTC case","publisher":"CNBC"},{"url":"https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/06/court-allows-trump-to-fire-ftc-commissioner-and-overturns-major-restraint-on-presidential-power/","title":"Supreme Court allows Trump to fire FTC commissioner and overturns major restraint on presidential power","publisher":"SCOTUSblog"},{"url":"https://www.wiley.law/alert-US-Supreme-Court-Allows-President-to-Remove-FTC-Commissioners","title":"U.S. Supreme Court Allows President to Remove FTC Commissioners","publisher":"Wiley Law"},{"url":"https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/29/supreme-court-lisa-cook-trump-federal-reserve.html","title":"Supreme Court rules Trump cannot fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook for now","publisher":"CNBC"},{"url":"https://www.npr.org/2026/06/29/nx-s1-5557955/supreme-court-fed-lisa-cook","title":"Supreme Court says Fed's Lisa Cook can stay in her job for now","publisher":"NPR"},{"url":"https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/06/court-prevents-trump-from-firing-fed-governor/","title":"Court prevents Trump from firing Fed governor","publisher":"SCOTUSblog"},{"url":"https://www.naacpldf.org/press-release/supreme-court-allows-lisa-cook-to-continue-serving-on-federal-reserve-board/","title":"Supreme Court Allows Lisa Cook to Continue Serving on Federal Reserve Board","publisher":"NAACP LDF"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["Supreme Court","Humphrey's Executor","separation of powers","FTC","Federal Reserve","Lisa Cook","independent agencies","removal power"],"relatedEntries":["trump-first-term-jerome-powell-fed-attacks"],"timeline":[],"custom":{"posture":"documented","legalAnalysis":[{"title":"Supreme Court allows Trump to fire FTC commissioner and overturns major restraint on presidential power","url":"https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/06/court-allows-trump-to-fire-ftc-commissioner-and-overturns-major-restraint-on-presidential-power/","organization":"SCOTUSblog"},{"title":"Court prevents Trump from firing Fed governor","url":"https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/06/court-prevents-trump-from-firing-fed-governor/","organization":"SCOTUSblog"},{"title":"U.S. Supreme Court Allows President to Remove FTC Commissioners","url":"https://www.wiley.law/alert-US-Supreme-Court-Allows-President-to-Remove-FTC-Commissioners","organization":"Wiley Law"}]}}