Supreme Court ruling expands president’s power over government agencies
The Supreme Court has made it easier for President Trump to fire leaders of independent agencies, overturning 90 years of precedent.
Consumer advocacy groups said U.S. consumers should be concerned about the Supreme Court’s significant June 29 decision because it affects consumer protections, including safety.
The Supreme Court upheld President Donald Trump’s March 2025 firing of Democratic Federal Trade Commission commissioners.
As USA TODAY previously reported, the high court’s ruling could dramatically change how more than a dozen agencies operate by taking away the power from Congress to remove the leaders of independent agencies and giving it to the president.
This includes the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), where President Trump tried to fire three of the five Democratic members of the commission in May 2025.
Why does the Supreme Court’s decision matter to consumers?
Emily Peterson Cashin, director of competition and market integrity at the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), said in a statement to USA TODAY that the decision risks “turning independent consumer protection agencies into political pawns.”
“If professionals charged with crimes such as policing fraud, protecting competition, and countering powerful corporations are removed at will, consumers will lose an important safeguard against abuse,” Peterson-Cassin said.
However, some praised the ruling.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision… massacre This represents a huge victory for our constitutional republic. By explicitly reversing Humphrey’s Executioner Returning to the faithful interpretation of the separation of powers, the court’s decision is massacre Ensure that federal agencies remain accountable to the executive branch and, by extension, to the American people who elected the president. ”
What was the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the FTC?
In a decision overturning 90 years of precedent, the Supreme Court said Congress’ limits on the president’s power to fire members of the Federal Trade Commission violate the president’s authority. The 6-3 decision was broken along ideological lines.
The FTC enforces a variety of antitrust and consumer protection laws that affect virtually every area of commerce.
President Trump asked the court to overturn Executive Humphrey v. United States, a 1935 decision that upheld restrictions on removing leaders of multi-member executive agencies. The court has been reviewing this decision piecemeal since 2010.
Trump has said that after he takes office again in 2025, all federal agencies will be under his control. In March 2025, the president fired two of the five-member Federal Trade Commission board, Democrats Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya.
Mr. Bedoya initially joined Mr. Slaughter’s legal challenge, but ultimately withdrew. He issued a statement June 29 saying the Supreme Court is a “billionaire fan club” that allows corporations to hurt people and deny them their day in court.
“The only people who win in this case are the president’s billionaire golfing buddies. And in the Supreme Court, that’s a given,” Bedoya said.
CPSC commissioner’s fate likely tied to FTC ruling
Consumer advocates said the May 2025 removal of three U.S. CPSC commissioners is likely to be upheld following the Supreme Court ruling.
Courtney Griffin, CFA’s director of consumer product safety, said in a statement provided to USA TODAY that CFA understands that the CPSC’s “terminations were to be determined by this litigation.”
Griffin said the ruling would have dangerous consequences. “Today’s decision doesn’t just weaken one government agency; it completely restructures government, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the watchdog that protects dangerous products that hurt and kill people,” she said.
Alexandra Reeve Givens, president and CEO of the left-wing CDT, echoed these concerns. President Trump’s “administration has made no effort to hide its desire to use government authority to strengthen and intimidate political opponents. The Supreme Court has removed one of the key barriers to that.”
However, White House press secretary Caroline Levitt previously told reporters that President Trump could lay off staffers who are part of the executive branch.
“He has the right to fire people in the executive branch. That’s a very simple answer,” Levitt said on May 9.
Maureen Groppe contributed to this report.
Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Contact her at blinfisher@USATODAY.com or follow her at @blinfisher on X, Facebook and Instagram and @blinfisher.bsky.social on Bluesky.. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, breaking down complex consumer and financial news. Subscribe here. Contact Rachel Barber rbarber@usatoday.comFollow her on X @rachelbarber_and subscribe to her newsletter Making More of Your Money here.
