Trump v. Slaughter · ¶204

To start, the First Congress itself created administrative bodies that, although not identical to agencies like the FTC, enjoyed significant independence in ways that undermine the majority’s simplistic history of uniform at-will removal. For instance, in 1790 Congress enacted (and President Washington signed) a law creating the Sinking Fund Commission, a five-member agency responsible for stabilizing the Nation’s debt. See Act of Aug. 12, 1790, 1 Stat. 186; Chabot 172–173. Three Cabinet Secretaries, the Vice President, and the Chief Justice headed the Commission, and the latter two could not be removed by the President—making the body at least semi-independent. It is true that the other three members were removable at will, see ante, at 32, but the independence of some members meant that Presidential control of the fund was not complete. This structure did not stand alone: In 1790,…

slip opinion, revised 7/07/26
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