The Supreme Court (SC) of the United States has issued a historic ruling that gives the president, Republican Donald Trump, significantly greater control over the federal bureaucracy. In a landmark decision, the country’s highest court ruled that the president has the power to remove the heads of independent government agencies at his discretion, reversing a legal precedent that dates back almost a century. Let the citizens shout in the street “no kings“(kings not) has foundation.
However, despite the enormous achievement that this step represents, the court has also established a crucial exception: the Federal Reserve (Fed). In a separate vote, the justices prevented the MAGA Government from immediately removing the governor of the US central bank, Lisa Cook, safeguarding – at least temporarily – the independence of the financial institution, which is in charge of setting interest rates.
Let’s go back to the success of the New Yorker. With a conservative majority of six to three, the High Court supported the dismissal of Rebecca Slaughter, a Democratic commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), whom Trump fired arguing that her continuity was “incompatible with the priorities of the Administration.”
By doing so, the Supreme Court overturned the historic precedent of 1935, known as Humphrey’s Executor. This jurisprudence protected the senior officials of regulatory bodies against political ups and downs, establishing that they could only be dismissed for “inefficiency, negligence or misconduct.”
In the majority arguments, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote: “What the text [de la Constitución]history and structure establish, is confirmed by Court precedent: the president can remove his subordinates at his discretion. […] “Those who wield the president’s power must be accountable to him.”
On the contrary, the three liberal judges of the same court cast a dissenting vote against the decision. With this ruling, key agencies such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission or the National Labor Relations Board are now exposed to their leaders being removed at will by the executive branch.
The sandy one: Cook stays for now
Despite the enormous advance of presidential power over the government apparatus, the Federal Reserve managed to remain outside this doctrine. In a close 5-4 vote, the court allowed Fed Governor Lisa Cook to remain in office while litigation is resolved in lower courts.
Trump had ordered the dismissal of Cook – the first black woman on the central bank board – following accusations of alleged mortgage fraud prior to taking office, allegations that she flatly denies and that the opposition describes as a pretext to intervene in monetary policy.
Justice Roberts and conservative Brett Kavanaugh aligned themselves with the liberal bloc. Roberts argued that allowing Cook’s immediate departure would “turn job protection for cause into little more than at-will employment,” eliminating any subsequent judicial review and putting the central bank’s neutrality at risk, an aspect that Wall Street markets are watching with extreme attention.
“Greatly increasing presidential power”
The ruling was greeted with enthusiasm by the White House. President Trump was quick to celebrate the resolution through his social platform, Truth Social, highlighting the impact of the measure. “90 years of jurisprudence have been completely and unequivocally revoked, greatly increasing presidential power at a time when it is needed most!” he said.
This judicial decision redefines the balance of powers in Washington and opens the door to a profound restructuring of the American public administration, leaving the future of autonomy in dozens of federal regulatory agencies in the air.
As CNN recalls, “amid the storm surrounding Trump, the court is crafting modern moral standards on social issues that could change the character of the country, reshaping aspects of the electoral system, and addressing culture war controversies inherent to the president’s political project, such as the rights of transgender people and who has the right to be a citizen.”
In part, these measures have led to multiplying protests “no kings“, massive demonstrations called in opposition to the second Trump administration. The central motto of the movement reflects the protesters’ rejection of what they consider to be an authoritarian drift and an abuse of power by the executive branch, stating that the country was founded not to have monarchs and that power resides in the people.
