Outcry over supreme court decision to grant Trump power to fire agency chiefs

As a reality TV show host, Donald Trump rose to fame with the catchphrase: “You’re fired!” On Monday, the US supreme court handed him – and all future presidents – the power to fire leaders of independent agencies or commissions, overturning 90 years of court precedent curbing executive power. While Trump celebrated the decision on Truth Social as a “big win”, labor advocates, unions, and consumer advocacy groups criticized the supreme court decision on the case, Trump v Slaughter, and warned of the long-term impacts for democracy in the US. “There’s no sugar-coating Slaughter. It’s an enormously important ruling (far more important than the other three decisions handed down today). It’s a huge win for Trump/the executive. And it’s going to have massive ramifications for the functioning of the government long after Trump is gone,” wrote Georgetown Law professor Stephen Vladeck. Trump has already fired several leaders of independent agencies during his second presidential term. He fired National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox, the first Black woman to serve on the agency’s board; Susan Tsui Grundmann, one of three board members at the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA); the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Erika McEntarfer ; and a board member of the National Mediation Board, Deirdre Hamilton . But it was his firing of a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, Rebecca Slaughter, in March last year, that led to the supreme court ruling. …