Free State Foundation President Randolph May issued the following statement regarding the Supreme Court’s decision today in Trump v. Slaughter:
“The Supreme Court has now confirmed the handwriting on the wall. The president may fire, without cause, members of what were formerly known as ‘independent’ agencies, including FCC commissioners. The Court held, correctly in my view, that this power is dictated by the Constitution’s separation of powers scheme.
As I have pointed out for
years, it is highly likely that, even absent the Slaughter decision
overruling Humphrey’s Executor, the president always has possessed the
authority to dismiss FCC commissioners at will. This is because the
Communications Act, unlike the FTC Act and other statutes, doesn’t contain at
provision even purporting to limit the president’s dismissal discretion. Of
course, pursuant to the Communications Act, the FCC still needs a quorum to
operate, which means three confirmed commissioners."
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