TechFreedom Calls on SCOTUS to Uphold Precedent in Firing of FTC's Slaughter
The U.S. Supreme Court should refrain from overturning judicial precedent on the firing of independent agency commissioners as “a matter of judicial restraint -- of respect for precedent and continuity in the law,” said TechFreedom in an amicus brief filed Monday in Trump v. Slaughter. The case concerns President Donald Trump’s firing of FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and could bear on whether Trump can fire FCC commissioners. The White House wants SCOTUS to vacate a lower court order that blocked Slaughter’s firing.
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Humphrey’s Executor v. U.S., the judicial precedent that requires independent commissioners to be fired only for cause, has “fostered a regulatory system that contains ample accountability,” TechFreedom said. “Overruling it would unsettle decades of practice and risk severe institutional harm, including threats to the stability of financial markets.”
Allowing Trump “to go on a firing spree would further destabilize the government and corrode the rule of law,” said Corbin Barthold, TechFreedom's director of appellate litigation, in a release. Trump “has already hollowed out some agencies to the point of losing a quorum, and he has made clear he would like to fire officials at the Federal Reserve -- an act that could trigger a financial crisis. We shouldn’t be handing matches to an arsonist.”