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By Joshua Scheer
With the Supreme Court preparing to rule on whether the president can control independent agencies, it’s worth revisiting the risks of unchecked executive power. The case centers on Trump’s firing of Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter. According to NPR, Slaughter received an email from the administration’s personnel office stating that her “continued service on the FTC is inconsistent with [the Trump] Administration’s priorities.”
I can’t help but wonder why someone like Trump would want to undermine agencies like the SEC or the FTC. It feels like we’re truly at the mercy of oligarchs—they won’t be satisfied until they’re sipping mimosas on Mars counting billions while the rest of us toil in a dystopian nightmare. Does anyone else share that fear?
For some brief context many independent agencies first became truly “independent” with the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in 1887. The ICC was designed to shield key regulatory functions from political pressure—a model that would shape future agencies. The growth of independent agencies accelerated during the New Deal in the 1930s, as the federal government expanded its role in regulating the economy and protecting the public.
This is not the first administration to reconsider the relationship with independent agencies and the question of how they are controlled. From the New York Times yesterday, it was noted that when John Roberts was in the Reagan administration, he was part of a group of lawyers who questioned this long standing independence. Asking that ‘time may be ripe to reconsider the existence of such entities, and take action to bring them back within the executive branch,’ Roberts advised the White House counsel in a 1983 memo. He described independent agencies as a “constitutional anomaly.”
That’s the Chief Justice—I can’t imagine what Clarence Thomas thinks.
To swing back to Slaughter said in an interview with ABC News earlier this year after her firing she explained that “Congress designed these agencies, like the FTC, like the [Federal Reserve], like [Securities and Exchange Commission], the whole panoply of independent agencies to have bipartisan voices so that there could be accountability and transparency,”
Not that, as Chris Hedges calls them, the “corporatists” are any better—but at least they pretend to care. Social programs, by contrast, are aimed at doing good. Maybe that’s why some argue for leaning into socialism? Just saying.
Here is one of Slaughters’ interview discussing her firing
These agencies—covering everything from workers’ rights to stock trades—are now in the balance.
For context, a report from the Economic Policy Institute, published in October, warns that the Trump administration’s aggressive actions against independent federal agencies could have serious consequences for everyday Americans. By removing agency leaders, inserting political oversight, and undermining statutory protections, these moves threaten agencies tasked with protecting workers, consumers, and the public interest.
The report reminds us why these agencies exist: to safeguard workers’ rights, ensure product safety, and serve the public good. As it notes, “Since taking office, the Trump administration has been on a crusade to attack and undermine the effectiveness of independent agencies.” In practice, this has included “unprecedented and illegal steps to politicize these agencies, including summarily firing dozens of independent agency leaders—who, by law, can only be removed for misconduct—based on political disagreements, and then either stacking boards with Trump loyalists or leaving seats vacant, depriving agencies of the ability to function.”
Many had hoped the Supreme Court would reassert limits on presidential power. Instead, the Court has repeatedly cleared the path for Trump to expand his control over the federal bureaucracy. According to the Niskanen Center, even as lower courts—sometimes Republican-appointed—blocked attempts to purge and defund agencies, the Supreme Court intervened to lift those restrictions. What could have been a clash over executive discretion has effectively become an endorsement of one of the most aggressive consolidations of power in recent U.S. history.
An October interview with Matt Grossman and Stanford professor Adam Bonica further explores the Supreme Court’s role in enabling Trump’s expansive executive power and the broader implications for independent agencies:
I will end with this video from Trumps Alma Mater Penn: “The Last of the Independents?” highlights one of the most consequential tests of executive power in decades — one that could reshape the balance between political authority and regulatory independence. The video explains how efforts to politicize these agencies—through firings, board stacking, or leaving seats vacant—and could undermine these protections, potentially putting ordinary Americans at risk while expanding presidential power. With a deep focus on the Trumps firing of FTC commissioner Rebecca Slaughter.
“For 90 years — a court decision that limits the President on who they can fire from these agencies has held strong.” “Now, all that could be lost.” with one expert asking
what may seem like a procedural dispute over appointments is actually a test of whether the government can maintain a system of checks and balances.
There is never an end, and the fight is ongoing—so keep up the good fight, everyone.
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