SCOTUS Poised to Expand Presidential Power Over the FCC

The US Supreme Court appears ready to uphold President Donald Trump’s removal of Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter, a move that could redefine executive power over the FCC and outspoken Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez.

The case challenges a 90-year-old precedent, Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, which limits presidential authority to fire members of independent commissions except for cause. The 1935 ruling has long served as the foundation for the structure of agencies such as the FTC and FCC, whose leaders are appointed to fixed terms to insulate them from political influence.

During more than two hours of oral arguments on December 8, Reuters reports conservative justices expressed skepticism about whether that precedent remains viable. Chief Justice John Roberts called Humphrey’s Executor “a dried husk,” noting that the FTC at the time of the decision “had very little, if any, executive power.”

Liberal justices countered that overturning the precedent would dramatically expand presidential power and threaten the independence of regulatory agencies. Justice Elena Kagan warned that such a decision would grant the president “control over everything, including over much of the lawmaking that happens in this country.” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said removing the safeguard could allow presidents to “fire all the scientists, and the doctors, and the economists and the PhDs” in independent agencies and replace them with political loyalists.

It wasn’t just the Court’s Democratic members that expressed doubts. Justice Brett Kavanaugh raised questions about how such a ruling might affect the Federal Reserve’s independence, underscoring the case’s potential to reshape the balance between political accountability and agency autonomy across government.

For Gomez, the stakes of this ruling will be personal and immediate. As the FCC’s lone Democrat serving alongside Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty, she has positioned herself as an outspoken critic of what she calls the “weaponizing” of FCC authority.

Her warnings intensified over the summer and fall amid escalating partisan disputes at the agency. At the Technology Policy Institute’s Aspen Forum, Gomez said she would challenge any mid-term removal in court. “If I get fired,” Gomez told attendees, “it isn’t because I didn’t do my job. It’s because I insisted on doing it.”

With only two seats currently unfilled on the five-member Commission and no announced replacements for Commissioners Nathan Simington and Geoffrey Starks, a move to dismiss Gomez could leave the FCC without the quorum required to conduct official business – a scenario unprecedented in the agency’s history.

The Court is expected to rule by the end of June.