The Supreme Court on Monday dramatically expanded presidential power, upholding President Donald Trump’s firings of the heads of independent federal agencies with one important exception: the Federal Reserve. The justices allowed Fed governor Lisa Cook to stay in her job while she fights the Republican president’s effort to fire her over allegations of mortgage fraud, which she has denied.
With the six conservative justices in the majority, the nine-member court jettisoned its unanimous decision in Humphrey’s Executor that had limited when presidents can fire agencies’ board members — in part to try to ensure decision-making free of political influence.
On a separate matter, the Supreme Court rejected on Monday a push by President Donald Trump to throw out a jury’s $5 million finding that he sexually abused the writer E. Jean Carroll at a New York City department store in the mid-1990s and later defamed her. The high court declined to take up the case in a brief, unexplained order, as is typical. There were no noted dissents. Trump also plans to appeal another $83.3 million verdict awarded to Carroll by a different jury after a second defamation trial, his lawyers have said.
Carroll, a longtime advice columnist and former TV talk show host, testified at a 2023 trial that Trump turned a friendly encounter in spring 1996 into a violent attack in the dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury retailer across the street from Trump Tower in Manhattan. The jury also found Trump liable for defaming Carroll when he denied her allegation in 2022.
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Open in new tab | A Massive Day for Executive Power and Accountability | |
|---|---|
| Category | Details |
| The Carroll Appeal | The Supreme Court rejected President Trump's bid to throw out a 2023 jury verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll and later defaming her. The $5 million verdict will stand. |
| Expanding Presidential Power | In a massive shift in administrative law, the conservative majority overturned a 1935 precedent (Humphrey's Executor), ruling that the President has the authority to fire members of independent regulatory agencies like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at will. |
| The Dissent | Liberal justices heavily criticized the FTC ruling, writing it gives the President "a power unknown even to the English Crown against which the Founders revolted," and shifts tremendous power into the executive branch. |
| The Federal Reserve Exception | In a related but distinct 5-4 ruling, the Court blocked Trump's unprecedented attempt to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, preserving the independence of the central bank (for now). |
| The Fallout | Trump called the Carroll decision "surprising" and labeled it "Liberal Lawfare." Meanwhile, legal experts warn the FTC decision functionally converts dozens of independent commissions into purely executive agencies under the President's direct control. |
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