President Donald Trump and his administration have been forced to turn to the U.S. Supreme Court probably more often then they had anticipated when they took over the White House earlier this year.
According to Newsweek, the high court received its latest emergency request from the White House, this time revolving around the attempted termination of a member of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Earlier this year, the president tried to fire Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, and the issue was immediately litigated.
On Tuesday, a lower court finally weighed in on the matter and, as usual, gave the Trump administration bad news.
The lower court ruled against the Trump administration having the authority to fire Slaughter, "ruling that commissioners can only be removed for reasons such as misconduct or neglect of duty."
Newsweek noted:
The lower court ordered her reinstated by finding that statutory protections limit removal to causes such as "inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office." Both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and district courts have issued rulings in the dispute.
Trump's Department of Justice has argued that such firings fall within the authority of the president, insisting that Trump has the ability to fire commissioners "at will."
However, lower courts have not agreed, and the rulings have forced Trump and the White House to seek relief at the highest level -- the Supreme Court, which they've had to do multiple times in similar situations.
Trump has had a great success record with emergency requests filed with the high court on such issues.
Depending on how the high court rules in this case, it could have broader implications as far as presidential authority is concerned.
Newsweek noted:
If the Court does rule for the administration, presidents could gain broader authority to remove members of multimember agencies, reshaping enforcement across multiple policy areas. If the Court upholds the lower-court rulings, existing statutory shields for independent agencies would remain intact.
Earlier this year, when Trump announced the firing, several high-profile Democrats were triggered, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
"Donald Trump just illegally fired two independent commissioners at the FTC who fight big corporations that abuse consumers and workers. Why? Trump's billionaire donors expect a return on their investment. He works for them, not you. The courts must reinstate the commissioners," she wrote at the time on X.
Social media users were quick to respond to Warren at the time.
"Sounds like something you would have said 8 years ago. Trump did nothing illegal and he is not aligned with billionaires against workers and consumers. Your analogy is grossly simplistic outdated and nauseatingly repetitious!" one X user wrote.
