US Supreme Court halts reinstatement of FTC commissioner News
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US Supreme Court halts reinstatement of FTC commissioner

The US Supreme Court on Monday stayed a district court order that would have reinstated Federal Trade Commission (FTC) commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter to her former position. The stay order halts enforcement of the district court’s July 17 ruling.

Former FTC commissioners Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya were dismissed from their roles by President Donald Trump in March. Shortly after the dismissals, Slaughter and Bedoya filed a lawsuit seeking reinstatement. Bedoya formally resigned from his position in June, citing personal and financial reasons. The court found that Bedoya’s voluntary resignation eliminated his standing to seek reinstatement.

In July, the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Trump’s removal of Slaughter violated the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA), which permits presidential removal only for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” The district court relied on Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, the 1935 Supreme Court precedent that upheld for-cause removal protections for FTC Commissioners against President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s attempt to fire then-Commissioner William Humphrey. The district court granted summary judgement in favor of Slaughter, effectively reinstating her position.

Trump appealed the district court’s July ruling. In his motion for stay pending appeal, Trump argued that the district court should have followed the Supreme Court’s May 2025 stay in Trump v. Wilcox, where the court stayed similar orders reinstating members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), finding that the NLRB and MSPB “exercise[d] considerable executive power” that removes them from the precedent set in Humphrey’s. The ruling in Wilcox has been used to uphold subsequent firings at the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Monday’s order was issued under Chief Justice John Roberts’ authority as Circuit Justice for the DC Circuit. The stay prevents former commissioner Slaughter from resuming her duties while the government’s appeal moves through the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. The stay represents a significant victory for the Trump administration’s broader effort to eliminate removal protections for independent agency officials.

This marks the latest legal development related to mass dismissals across federal agencies. Last month, the Supreme Court nixed a federal court order that would have required the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of terminated employees.

THIS DAY @ LAW

WWII National War Labor Board established

On January 12, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt revived the National War Labor Board (NWLB) for World War II. In order to prevent wartime labor stoppages, the NWLB was set up to arbitrate labor disputes that arose during the war. The NWLB also managed wage controls over the airplane, automobile, shipping, mining, telegraph, and railway industries during the war. The original NWLB was created by President Woodrow Wilson during World War I for largely the same purposes. Read Cornell University's collection of NWLB files from both World Wars.