The Supreme Court ruled on June 29, 2026, that the Federal Trade Commission Act’s restriction on removing commissioners was unconstitutional, reversing the lower court’s decision in Rebecca Kelly Slaughter’s favor. The Court’s judgment was issued July 31, 2026. The case began after President Donald Trump removed Slaughter and fellow commissioner Alvaro Bedoya in March 2025, but the Supreme Court case concerned Slaughter’s request for relief—not a reinstatement order for either commissioner.
Why Trump removed the commissioners
In March 2025, President Donald Trump removed Democratic FTC commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya. The removal notices said their continued service was inconsistent with the Administration’s priorities and invoked presidential authority under Article II of the Constitution. They did not identify a statutory cause for removal, according to the Supreme Court’s opinion.
At the time, the Federal Trade Commission Act provided for five commissioners serving seven-year terms. It said a commissioner could be removed only for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” That limit was the basis of Slaughter’s legal challenge.
What happened in Slaughter’s case
Slaughter sought relief in federal district court. The district judge ruled for her, relying on the Supreme Court’s 1935 decision in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, and issued an injunction. The Supreme Court later stayed that order, agreed to hear the case before the court of appeals had ruled, and heard argument on December 8, 2025.
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On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case. Its docket records that judgment issued on July 31, 2026. The decision is no longer pending.
What the Supreme Court held
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. delivered the Court’s opinion. The majority held that the FTC Act’s for-cause removal protection violated separation of powers. It overruled Humphrey’s Executor to the extent that any part of the earlier precedent remained inconsistent with that holding. As the opinion put it: “If anything more is left of Humphrey’s, we overrule it.”
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This is the Court’s ruling on the FTC provision and the precedent before it. Predictions about how the decision may affect removal protections at other federal agencies are separate legal analysis, not a holding that every such protection has already been invalidated.
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The Supreme Court reversed the injunction that Slaughter had obtained. It did not order her reinstated. Although Bedoya was also named in the district-court action, his request for reinstatement became moot after he resigned, according to the district-court opinion. The Supreme Court case, Trump v. Slaughter, concerned Slaughter’s requested relief.
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Sources
- Supreme Court opinion in Trump v. Slaughter (June 29, 2026; the opinion notes it remains subject to formal revision before publication in the United States Reports).
- Supreme Court docket for Trump v. Slaughter, recording the July 31, 2026 judgment.
- District-court opinion and case record for the earlier proceedings and Bedoya’s mootness.
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