The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily allowed Donald Trump to sideline Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter, granting the president a short-term reprieve in his effort to remove her before her term ends.
Chief Justice John Roberts issued the pause, known as an administrative stay, which halts lower court rulings that had blocked Trump’s firing attempt. Roberts gave Slaughter until next week to respond, setting the stage for a full Supreme Court review of whether the president has the power to unseat her at will.
Trump’s administration insists that the modern FTC holds sweeping authority far beyond what the court considered in its 1935 decision Humphrey’s Executor v. United States—a case that shielded commissioners from being fired over policy disputes. That precedent has long stood as a barrier against unchecked presidential control over independent regulators.
Lower courts, however, weren’t persuaded. A Washington judge ruled in July that Trump’s move violated federal protections designed to preserve the FTC’s independence, and a divided appeals panel upheld that decision earlier this month.
Slaughter, one of two Democrats Trump sought to oust in March, said she will fight on: “In the week I was back at the FTC it became even more clear to me that we desperately need the transparency and accountability Congress intended at bipartisan independent agencies.”
For now, the commission continues under Republican dominance. Chairman Andrew Ferguson has steered the agency toward conservative causes—questioning gender-affirming care for transgender youth, probing corporate diversity programs, and scrutinizing Google’s handling of Republican fundraising emails. The FTC has also cleared major corporate mergers while launching inquiries into groups accused by Elon Musk of orchestrating ad boycotts of his platform X.
The high court’s intervention is just the latest in a string of cases where Trump has leaned on a conservative-tilted bench to sweep aside roadblocks from lower courts. With the FTC fight now in Roberts’ hands, the balance of power between presidents and independent watchdogs may be headed for a defining moment.
