Trump v. Slaughter · ¶118

As it turned out, the President’s expectations proved misplaced. When Humphrey sued to challenge his dismissal, this Court brushed Myers aside, upheld Congress’s removal restrictions, and declared Humphrey’s firing unlawful even though he was in no position to reclaim his post. He died during the course of the litigation, leaving his heirs as the only immediate winners; the decision paved the way for them to secure his backpay. See Humphrey’s, 295 U. S., at 618, 632. But the broader implications of the Court’s decision were unmistakable and met with mixed reactions. James Landis greeted the decision with “deligh[t].” J. Landis, Mr. Justice Brandeis: A Law Clerk’s View, 46 Publications of the Am. Jewish Hist. Soc. 467, 472 (1957). No wonder. The Supreme Court, after all, had just signed off on at least one aspect of his new model of public administration by permitting Congress to…

slip opinion, revised 7/07/26
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