Supreme Court Holds FTC’s ‘For-Cause’ Removal Protections Violate Separation of Powers

Quick Hits

• The Supreme Court ruled that the removal provision for Federal Trade Commission members violates the Constitution’s separation of powers.
• The Court’s overruling of a nearly ninety-year-old precedent could impact the president’s authority to remove leaders of other agencies, such as the NLRB and MSPB.

The Trump v. Slaughter Decision

In Trump v. Slaughter, No. 25-332, the Supreme Court ruled 6–3 against a legal challenge by former FTC commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter. In March 2025, President Donald Trump fired Slaughter, stating that her service was “inconsistent” with the administration’s priorities. The Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act) states that commissioners may be removed by the president for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”

In an opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court held that such for-cause removal protections violate the separation of powers and the “unity” of the executive branch.

“What text, history, and structure settle, our precedent confirms—the President may remove his subordinates at will,” the Court stated.

The Supreme Court overruled the nearly ninety-year-old precedent in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States (1935), which had upheld statutory for-cause removal protections for commissioners of independent agencies. The Humphrey’s Executor framework permitted Congress to insulate certain agency heads from presidential removal, provided the agency exercised “quasi-legislative” or “quasi-judicial” functions rather than purely executive ones.

The Supreme Court instead held that agencies wielding executive power must be accountable to the president and that “[t]o remain accountable to the President, those officers must be removable by the President.”

In Slaughter’s case, “[t]he tasks [the FTC] undertakes are the very essence of ‘execution’ of the law—precisely the President’s constitutional role,” the Court stated.

Implications for Wilcox, Harris Appeals

The ruling, while focused on the FTC, could have significant implications for the legal challenges brought by former NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox and former MSPB member Cathy Harris, who were removed from their respective boards by President Donald Trump in early 2025.

The National Labor Relations Act, which created the NLRB, states that the president may remove Board members in cases of “neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.” Members of the MSPB, which adjudicates federal employee appeals and enforces civil service protections, have a similar for-cause removal protection.

The Trump v. Slaughter decision suggests that for-cause removal protections for officers of executive agencies are unconstitutional, and that those officers are subject to at-will removal by the president. Thus, it casts doubt on whether either challenge by Wilcox or Harris seeking reinstatement to their respective boards could ultimately succeed.

Key Takeaways for Employers

For employers, the application of the Slaughter decision could make the NLRB and other executive agencies that regulate employers more responsive to the presidential administration and its policy priorities. However, it also introduces uncertainty, as agency leadership—and thus agency policy—may shift more rapidly with changes in administration.

Employers may want to monitor developments in both the Wilcox and Harris litigation, as lower courts will now need to apply the Trump v. Slaughter framework to determine whether those removals were lawful. If the challenges fail, as now appears likely, the administration’s actions will stand—potentially reshaping these agencies’ direction and priorities for the foreseeable future.

Ogletree Deakins’ Traditional Labor Relations Practice Group will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the Governmental Affairs and Traditional Labor Relations blogs as additional information becomes available.

This article and more information on how the Trump administration’s actions impact employers can be found on Ogletree Deakins’ Administration Resource Hub.

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