Trump v. Slaughter · ¶30

Because these officers were subject to the President’s superintendence, they had to be removable by him at will. For one, that was just part of what it meant to wield “the executive power,” as it was understood at the time of ratification. Jefferson wrote as early as 1780 that “[t]he power of appointing and removing executive officers [is] inherent in [the] Executive,” as “[h]e who appoints may remove.” 4 Papers of Thomas Jefferson 281 (1951). And as to this power, the Constitution’s words were chosen carefully—it was the President who would “appoint” the principal “Officers of the United States,” with the Senate providing “Advice and Consent.” Art. II, §2, cl. 2; cf. The Federalist No. 66, at 404 (A. Hamilton) (“[I]n all the governments with which we are acquainted . . . those who hold offices during pleasure [are] dependent on the pleasure of those who appoint them”). If the Framers…

slip opinion, revised 7/07/26
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