High Stakes for Agency Independence
At the heart of this legal slugfest is the future of independent federal agencies. The Humphrey’s Executor ruling of 1935 had long shielded commissioners of such agencies from arbitrary dismissal by the president. Trump’s lawyers argued that the CPSC—like the NLRB and FTC—exercises executive powers and should therefore be under presidential control.
Trump’s emergency application, filed July 2, lambasted Judge Matthew J. Maddox for transferring “control of the CPSC from Trump to Biden” and unleashing “chaos and dysfunction.” The district judge, a Biden appointee, had ruled that Trump violated 15 U.S.C. Section 2053(a), which permits removal of CPSC officials only for “neglect of duty or malfeasance.”
Maddox granted summary judgment to the commissioners on June 13 and rejected Trump’s argument that such statutory protections violate the Constitution’s Article II removal authority.
Supreme Court Declines Fast-Track Review — But the Message Is Loud and Clear
Although the justices denied Trump’s request to leapfrog the Fourth Circuit and hear the merits before judgment, Justice Brett Kavanaugh expressed that granting early review would have been “better practice.”
Trump’s legal team pointed to a parallel July 17 ruling by D.C. Judge Loren L. AliKhan, who reinstated former FTC commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, as further proof of lower courts ignoring the Supreme Court’s precedent.
“This Court should step in to stop lower courts from treating Wilcox like the proverbial excursion ticket—good for one day and trip only,” Trump’s counsel argued.
