Trump Asks Supreme Court to Uphold Slaughter’s Firing at FTC
The U.S. Supreme Court should uphold the firing of FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and halt her reinstatement while it deliberates, the Department of Justice argued Thursday on behalf of President Donald Trump.
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A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Wednesday ruled 2-1 to uphold a district court ruling in favor of Slaughter (see 2509030053).
DOJ on Thursday argued Article II of the Constitution empowers the president to remove commissioners at will. The president “must be able to remove, at will, members of multimember commissions that exercise substantial executive power,” said the filing.
“President Trump acted lawfully when he removed Rebecca Slaughter from the FTC,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement. “Indeed, the Supreme Court has twice in the last few months confirmed the President’s authority to remove the heads of executive agencies. We look forward to being vindicated for a third time -- and hopefully after this ruling, the lower courts will cease their defiance of Supreme Court orders.”
Slaughter in response Friday asked the high court to deny Trump’s request. The administration’s “failure to identify any threat posed by Commissioner Slaughter’s service during the pendency of this stay application should be fatal to their request for an administrative stay,” she said.