The US Supreme Court rules that President Donald Trump has the power to fire leaders of independent agencies or commissions, overturning about 90 years of earlier court precedent that limited executive authority over these posts. The decision, in Trump v. Slaughter, centers on Trump’s March 2025 firing of Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter. The Court’s majority applies a “loyalty test,” which legal and labor experts cited by coverage say shifts constitutional law toward giving presidents greater control over agency heads. The vote is 6–3, with dissenting opinions from Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Elena Kagan.
Alongside this ruling, the Court issues other decisions highlighted in reporting. It rules that mail-in ballots arriving after election day can still be counted if they follow the law in more than a dozen states. It also decides that geofence warrants involving smartphone location data require Fourth Amendment privacy protections. Reactions to the agency-firing decision are mixed: Trump publicly characterizes it as a win, while labor and advocacy groups criticize it and warn it could affect democratic governance.
