Supreme Court Hands Trump Power To Fire FCC Commissioners.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that President Trump has the authority to fire congressionally-approved appointees to several government agencies, including the Federal Communications Commission. The 6-3 ruling along ideological lines clears the way for Trump to push Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat on the FCC, out of her seat.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, said the idea that Congress would need to approve a firing is “incompatible with our constitutional design,” ending decades of legal protection for those positions.

“Although it is up to the Senate to decide whether to confirm those with whom the President would prefer to work, neither Congress nor the courts may saddle him with those with whom he cannot work,” Roberts writes. “Subordinates who exercise the President’s power are subject to removal by him. Then, and only then, can they remain accountable to the President, and the President to the people.”

Justice Sonia Sotomayor says in the dissent that the decision “promises to unleash only chaos” across federal agencies covered by the ruling. She says the decision undercuts the idea that certain agencies have some independence from presidential control. “Today, the majority replaces 90 years of proven, workable practice with a half-baked theory of executive power that is simultaneously all encompassing yet also subject to necessary but undefined exceptions,” she writes.

Trump hasn’t said whether he intends to push Gomez out, however, in a post on social media, he called the decision a “big win” and “one of the most important ever given with respect to Presidential powers.” Trump said that Presidents dating back to the 1930s have long sought more authority to fire agency staff.

Gomez reiterated that she will continue to press on with her work at the FCC for the time being.

“Protecting consumers, promoting competitive innovation, and defending free expression are at the heart of my work at the Commission, and I intend to keep doing that work for as long as I am able to serve,” she says in a statement. Last week, Gomez said that she believes the requirement for at least three commissioners may insulate her in the near-term from any firing. Gomez’s official term comes to an end June 30, however, under standard practice, she can remain on the Commission until January 2028 — or until a successor is confirmed by the Senate.

Beyond the potential impact to her position, Gomez says she is worried what the Supreme Court’s decision will do to the idea of independent agencies. And those who argue these agencies are unaccountable “misunderstand how they were designed” since the FCC answers to Congress.

“We are already seeing what political control of this agency looks like in practice, through investigations targeting broadcasters and government critics for coverage this administration finds unfavorable,” she says. “When commissioners can be removed for their policy views rather than for cause, the inevitable result is an agency that pulls its punches and defers to political winds rather than the record before it.”

Free Press VP of Policy Matt Wood calls the ruling a “tragedy for good government” and worries the move to pull back what have been independent agencies will strengthen the hand of industries being regulated and set up even more opportunities for corruptions.

“Independent agencies can render expert rules and regulations on complex problems in the industries they oversee, moving more quickly and surely than Congress could ever legislate, and more free of partisanship and political interference than the executive branch writ large,” Wood says. If Democrats regain control of Congress, he thinks they need to pass laws that specify the precise powers and duties of any commissioner the President may appoint.