Trump v. Slaughter · ¶44

Twice in the 19th century, we reaffirmed what the First Congress had held. The text of the Constitution “is silent with respect to the power of removal from office,” we noted in our first case on the subject. Ex parte Hennen, 13 Pet. 230, 258 (1839). But “it was very early adopted, as the practical construction of the Constitution,” that the power “to remove, where the tenure of the office was not fixed by the Constitution,” was “vested in the President alone.” Id., at 259. “And such would appear to have been the legislative construction of the Constitution” too, given “the organization of the three great departments” “in the year 1789.” Ibid. Our second case was of a piece. “[T]he decision of Congress in 1789, and the universal practice of the Government under it,” we explained, “ha[s] settled the question beyond any power of alteration.” Parsons v. United States, 167 U. S. 324, 330…

slip opinion, revised 7/07/26
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