Trump v. Slaughter · ¶199

Story did note, in 1833, that Congress had until then generally left the President free to remove officers at will. It is unclear, however, if he believed Congress could provide more durable tenures of office. As the majority observes, Story suggested in a footnote that the vote in 1789 “seems to have expressed the sense of the legislature, that the power of removal by the executive could not be abridged by the legislature.” 3 Story §1531, at 390, n. 1. On the prior page, though, Story identified, as an open question, “whether congress can give any duration of office . . . not subject to the exercise of this power of removal.” Id., §1531, at 389. Given Story’s view that the “vote finally taken” in 1789 was merely “affirmative of the power of removal in the president, without any co-operation of the senate,” id., §1536, at 394, it is most likely that the “sense of the legislature”…

slip opinion, revised 7/07/26
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