NEW: Supreme Court Justices Appear Supportive Of Trump On All-Important Case

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority hinted Monday that President Donald Trump may have the power to fire a federal regulator without cause, raising the stakes in a showdown that could topple a 90-year precedent and rewire how Washington works.

For nearly three hours, justices sparred over Trump’s decision to remove Rebecca Slaughter, a Democrat serving on the Federal Trade Commission, long before her term expired. Slaughter sued, arguing that Presidents are barred from firing FTC commissioners without cause under Humphrey’s Executor, a 1935 ruling that Congress has relied on to insulate certain regulatory agencies from politics.

The Trump administration opened the hearing with a direct assault on that history. U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged the justices to scrap Humphrey’s entirely, calling it an “indefensible outlier” and a “decaying husk” that has “not withstood the test of time.”

That barrage set the tone, but what came next wasn’t immediately clear. Lawyers for Slaughter warned that erasing the precedent would mean “everything is on the chopping block,” threatening not just the FTC, but the structure of every multi-member agency Congress built to operate outside a president’s whims.

As arguments unfolded, the conservative justices appeared largely unsympathetic to the idea that Congress can shield regulators from presidential firing power. But several seemed torn on how far to go.

Credit: Fred Schilling, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Chief Justice John Roberts pushed the lawyers to explain how much executive authority the FTC actually wields today. Humphrey’s, he noted, dealt with an agency that once had “very little, if any, executive power,” a reality that “may be why they were able to attract such a broad support on the court at the time.”

Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett probed whether the court could narrow the protections instead of killing them outright, pressing the Trump administration on what “limiting” principles would remain if the precedent falls.

Then came the pushback.

Liberal justices warned that giving Trump unchecked removal power would not stop at the FTC. Justice Sonia Sotomayor charged that the administration was asking the court “to destroy the structure of government.” She argued, “You’re asking us to overturn a case that has been around for nearly 100 years,” adding, “I don’t see how your logic can be limited,” if Humphrey’s is overturned.

Justice Elena Kagan echoed the warning. “Once you’re down this road, it’s a little bit hard to see how you stop,” she told Sauer.

The case, Trump v. Slaughter, stems from Slaughter’s March lawsuit protesting her firing, which a federal judge ruled unlawful, ordering her reinstated. The Supreme Court paused that order in September and agreed to hear the case, signaling the conservative majority may be prepared to curb, or completely erase, long-standing limits on presidential control.

The FTC’s founding statute, passed in 1914, protects commissioners from removal except for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” Weakening that shield could sweep beyond the agency, allowing future presidents to fire regulators at agencies like the National Labor Relations Board and the Securities and Exchange Commission and replace them at will.

The justices have teed up similar clashes over Trump-ordered firings, including a January case involving Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. Other fired Democratic board members, such as those from the NLRB and the Merit Systems Protection Board, are also suing as Trump aggressively restructures federal agencies.

A decision in Slaughter’s case is expected by June.

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