The US Supreme Court on Monday dramatically expanded presidential powers, ruling to uphold President Donald Trump’s decision to fire the heads of independent federal agencies.
However, the Supreme Court firmly opposed his decision to fire the head of the Federal Reserve, the US central bank.
Among a series of decisions, the court voted 5 to 4 to reject Trump’s decision to fire Federal Reserve Chair Lisa Cook in 2025.
But he ruled that presidents have free rein to fire department heads at will, reversing a landmark decision made nearly a century ago. The court upheld Trump’s firing of Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter over political differences.
What do we know about the Supreme Court’s decision to fire Cook?
Last August, Trump tried to oust Cook, the first black woman to serve as Fed governor, citing unproven allegations of mortgage fraud that she denied. Cook argued that the allegations were a pretext for her removal from office over disagreements over monetary policy.
Trump has openly attacked the Federal Reserve, pressuring the world’s largest central bank to cut interest rates faster and deeper.
On Monday, Chief Justice John Roberts and fellow conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh were among those who ruled against Trump’s decision.
Roberts said Federal Reserve governors “do not serve at the pleasure of the president—instead, they are elected to 14-year terms and can only be removed ‘for cause.'”
The court said the president cannot fire officials at the independent Federal Reserve “for any reason or no reason.”
Trump’s decision to fire US Federal Reserve chief raises concerns
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What did the Supreme Court say about Trump’s powers?
But the court, in a separate 6-3 ruling, upheld Trump’s firing of Democratic FTC Commissioner Slaughter, expanding his presidential powers into the executive branch.
The decision overturned a 1935 Supreme Court precedent that recognized Congress’s power to protect the heads of some regulatory agencies from removing the president at will.
Trump fired Slaughter over political differences, but a lower court ruling blocked his firing, citing a 1935 ruling known as the Humphrey Enforcement ruling.
Slaughter was nominated to the post by former President and fellow Democrat Joe Biden. She was one of two Democratic FTC members fired by Trump shortly after he returned to the White House last year. Her term of office was supposed to last until 2029.
Trump celebrates one decision and condemns another
Trump hailed the Slaughter ruling as a “BIG VICTORY.” On social media, he said the decision “affirms the presidential authority in our country to remove executive branch officials and agency appointees or representatives under Article II,” the constitutional provision defining presidential powers.
“Presidents of the United States have long sought this decision, dating back to the 1930s,” Trump wrote, calling the decision “one of the most important ever made regarding the powers of the presidency.”
Can the US Federal Reserve remain independent?
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Meanwhile, his tone changed dramatically when it came to the Cook decision.
“We will immediately take appropriate action to ensure that whoever committed the offense is not making vital decisions affecting the welfare of the United States of America!” Trump said this in a post on the social network, calling the Supreme Court verdict “strictly procedural.”
Court upholds Trump’s $5 million sexual assault settlement
In a separate ruling, the Supreme Court also on Monday refused to hear Trump’s bid to overturn a $5 million (roughly €4.38 million) verdict in favor of E. Jean Carroll after a jury found the US president guilty of sexually assaulting and then defaming a former magazine columnist.
A lower court upheld the jury’s verdict in 2023, rejecting Trump’s arguments that the trial was unfair.
In her 2019 memoir, Carroll alleged that Trump raped her around 1996 in the locker room of the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan. Trump has repeatedly denied the accusations.
Trump expressed disappointment in the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the appeal and called Carroll’s lawsuit a “fake case.”
“I will continue to fight this gun and legal case against me, including the ridiculous libel charge, with all my power and strength. This case is truly against the United States of America and everything it stands for and should never be allowed to happen to another President or future candidate!” Trump wrote on social media.
Editor: Srinivas Mazumdaru
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