Supreme Court to Test Trump’s Power Over the ‘Fourth Branch’

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20, 2025 —The Supreme Court moved to revisit a bedrock of presidential power as a 1935 precedent faced its sharpest test in nearly a century.

The Court scheduled Dec. 8, 2025 arguments in Trump v. Slaughter, a case that could redefine how much control presidents hold over independent regulators. The outcome could determine whether presidents can fire Federal Trade Commission commissioners at will or only under the limits Congress set in the 1914 Federal Trade Commission Act.

President Donald Trump removed Democratic Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter in March. In court filings, his administration argued that FTC commissioners exercised executive power and were therefore removable at the president’s discretion.