The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a sweeping ruling that dramatically expands the president’s authority over federal agencies that were historically designed to function free from direct White House control.
The court voted 6-3 to overturn a 91-year-old legal precedent that had long protected members of independent federal agencies from being removed by the president. That longstanding precedent had served as a check on executive power for nearly a century.
The decision represents one of the most significant shifts in the relationship between the presidency and the federal regulatory structure in modern history, effectively giving the president new authority to remove officials at agencies that were specifically created to operate at arm’s length from political influence.
