Supreme Court case to be heard tomorrow could hand Trump total control over the executive branch

Tomorrow, Monday, December 8, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case of Trump v. Slaughter, a case that could hand Trump total control over the executive branch and all of the federal agencies that are supposed to be independent from the whims of the executive and thus insulated from partisan politics.

In March, Trump fired Rebecca Slaughter, the last remaining Democrat on the Board of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The FTC’s mission is “[p]rotecting the public from deceptive or unfair business practices and from unfair methods of competition through law enforcement, advocacy, research, and education.”

Slaughter contested the legality of Trump firing her, saying it violates Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, a 1935 Supreme Court ruling that said Congress can enact laws that limit the ability of a U.S. President to fire executive officials at independent agencies like the FTC.

Slaughter is challenging her firing because agencies like the FTC by law are supposed to be independent, and leaders of these agencies

aren’t subject to being removed by a President.

The FTC has five commissioners, all appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. FTC Commissioners serve seven-year terms. No more than three FTC commissioners can come from any one political party.

The law says a president can only remove a sitting commissioner from office “for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”

Slaughter committed none of these transgressions, but Trump thinks he should have total control over the executive branch and the power to fire whoever he wants, whenever he wants. He’s trying to claim that if the Court blocks his ability to fire officials at federal agencies, it would violate the separation of powers — not protect it.

Independent agencies like the FTC were created to protect Americans and democracy, and provide additional checks and balances on the different powers in the government.

If the Court sides with Trump, federal agencies will no longer be independent or able to exercise their own power to check Trump’s executive overreach and illegal actions. Instead, they’ll have to bend to his will, and the Court will give Trump a big leg up in proceeding with his authoritarian takeover of the United States.