§52 —
On alone
Democrat
5-4
The holding has a remainder. The same majority wrote that "all that is left of Humphrey's is its observation that an agency that 'exercises no part of the executive power' need not fall within the rule of Presidential removal"; the dissent answered that "some decisions should depend not only on who is in office — much less on who is disfavored or owed a favor by those in office" 1. Before the ruling, the removals had already reached the FTC 1, the NLRB and the Consumer Product Safety Commission 2.
Then the same day, Trump v. Cook, 5 to 4. The Court refused to let him remove a governor of the Federal Reserve while the case proceeds, the Chief Justice writing that the government's reading "would in effect transform the Federal Reserve's for-cause protection into at-will employment" 3. The governor is still in office. The October term opens today, and none of its first cases asks who the president may fire. That question is settled everywhere but one building.
Sources
- Majority on what remains of Humphrey's Executor; dissent of Justice Sotomayor — Trump v. Slaughter, 29 June 2026 ↑
- The removal of Democratic members of the NLRB — NPR, 28 January 2025 — https://www.npr.org/2025/01/28/nx-s1-5277103/nlrb-trump-wilcox-abruzzo-democrats-labor ; the removal of CPSC commissioners — NPR, 9 May 2025 ↑
- Trump v. Cook, 5–4: the government's reading "would in effect transform the Federal Reserve's for-cause protection into at-will employment" — SCOTUSblog, 29 June 2026 ↑
Republican
I ALONE CAN FIX IT
The line, from the 2016 acceptance speech in Cleveland: "Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it" 1. It sounded like a boast. In June it became, in large part, the law.
On June 29 the Supreme Court decided Trump v. Slaughter, 6 to 3, holding that the FTC commissioners' protection from removal "is contrary to the separation of powers." The Chief Justice wrote that "more than 200 years have passed since we recognized that the Constitution 'vests the whole executive power in the President'"; the syllabus: "To remain accountable to the President, those officers must be removable by the President" 2. The case for "I alone" is now a holding: one elected officer answers for the executive branch, so one elected officer runs it.
Sources
“My nephew in law school printed me two opinions from the same day in June, and I read them in the order they came off the printer. The first one, six to three: the Constitution "vests the whole executive power in the President." The second one, five to four: the government's theory "would in effect transform the Federal Reserve's for-cause protection into at-will employment," so the governor stays. I'm sorry, I'll let you get in there, the Court opens today. If he alone can fix it, who's the one person he's not allowed to fire?”— Lou
“"I alone can fix it." In June the Supreme Court more or less agreed — the whole executive power, vested in one man, fire the commissioners at will. Same day, same Court, five to four: except the Fed. So he alone can fix everything but the price of money. The term opens today. They're calling it the October term. He's calling it staff.”
“The Court affirmed that the president alone controls the executive branch, and clarified that the Federal Reserve is not the executive branch, which frees the president to control everything except the one thing he talks about most.”