Trump v. Slaughter · ¶111

Influential as these ideas were, they met with some hard realities as they progressed from the academy into the halls of government. For an illustration, look no further than the FTC itself and the case at the center of today’s dispute, Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, 295 U. S. 602 (1935). Congress created the FTC in 1914 through legislation that by-then President Wilson signed into law. See ch. 311, 38 Stat. 717. In establishing the agency, Congress endowed it with considerable power both to define and prosecute “unfair methods of competition.” Id., at 719–720. And in the same breath, Congress insulated the agency’s leadership from democratic control, at least to a degree: Once leaders were appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, Congress provided, the President could remove them only “for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” Id., at 718.

slip opinion, revised 7/07/26
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