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The Supreme Court has made it easier for presidents to sabotage their successors.
Slate Magazine • • nation
Key Points:
- The Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. Slaughter that the president has broad authority to remove heads of independent federal agencies, aiming to increase presidential control over key economic regulators.
- This decision disrupts the bipartisan, stable structure of multimember commissions, enabling presidents to remove opposing-party commissioners and potentially leaving agencies without quorums or functioning leadership.
- As a result, incoming presidents may face agencies dominated by the opposing party’s commissioners, with a hostile Senate unlikely to confirm new nominees, effectively limiting presidential control over these agencies.
- The ruling also empowers outgoing presidents to purge commissioners, potentially crippling agencies for the next administration, especially under divided government.
- Possible solutions include congressional action to extend the Vacancies Act to multimember commissions or restructuring some agencies into single-head entities, but such reforms are unlikely while the current president benefits from the new removal powers.
