Trump v. Slaughter · ¶211

No case before the turn of the 20th century suggested that the President’s removal power was not regulable by Congress. In Marbury v. Madison, 1 Cranch 137 (1803), Chief Justice Marshall approvingly recognized that an office with a 5-year fixed-term tenure was “not removable at the will of the executive” and thus was “independent of the executive.” Id., at 162, 172. That protection meant that, “having once made [a fixed-term] appointment, [the President’s] power over the office [was] terminated in all cases.” Id., at 162. Indeed, the historic dispute in that case, over whether Marbury had been commissioned to his office as a justice of the peace, would have been academic if President Jefferson could have removed Marbury at pleasure once commissioned. It mattered only if Marbury, at that point, was safe from removal.

slip opinion, revised 7/07/26
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