Trump v. Slaughter · ¶184

The majority relatedly places undue weight on the notion that “‘[t]he power of appointing and removing executive officers [is] inherent in [the] Executive.’” Ibid. Under the Constitution, the President does not have unlimited appointment powers either. His power is to “nominate”; only “by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate” may he “appoint” the “Officers of the United States.” Art. II, §2, cl. 2. What is more, the President can appoint officers only to offices “established by Law”—that is, by Congress. Ibid. Any link between appointment and removal thus undermines the existence of any inherent illimitable executive removal power. See, e.g., Lawson 452–453. Given that the Constitution did not grant the President alone an illimitable power to appoint, it is all the less likely that it silently vested in the President an unbounded power to remove.

slip opinion, revised 7/07/26
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