• by Wendy Davis , September 15, 2025

Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, who was ousted from the agency earlier this year by President Donald Trump, is urging the Supreme Court to allow her to immediately return to the commission.

In papers filed Monday with the Supreme Court, Slaughter argues that its 1935 ruling in a case known as Humphrey's Executor prohibits the president from firing an FTC member without cause. The court ruled in that matter that Franklin D. Roosevelt lacked authority to oust an FTC commissioner except for one of three grounds set out by Congress -- inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.

"Humphrey’s Executor controls this case," she argues in a bid for reinstatement while her lawsuit over the firing proceeds in court.

When Trump fired Slaughter in March, his stated reason was that her continued service was inconsistent with his administration's priorities.

She sued for reinstatement and U.S. District Court Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington, D.C. sided with Slaughter, writing that her removal from the FTC was "blatantly unlawful" and ordering her reinstated.

The administration appealed that ruling and asked the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals for an emergency order halting Slaughter's return to the FTC while the appeal proceeded in court. The appellate court temporarily blocked Slaughter's reinstatement while it considered the administration's emergency request, but earlier this month sided with Slaughter and allowed her to return to the FTC.

U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer then asked the Supreme Court to halt Slaughter's reinstatement on an emergency basis.

Chief Justice John Roberts granted the emergency request last week, and asked Slaughter to respond to Sauer's petition by September 15.

Sauer had argued in the request to block Slaughter's return that the recent Supreme Court decisions -- including its May ruling halting the reinstatement of Gwynne Wilcox to the National Labor Relations Board, and Cathy Harris to the Merit Systems Protection -- support the position that Trump can oust Slaughter without cause.

"Under this Court’s cases, the President must be able to remove, at will, members of multimember commissions that exercise substantial executive power," the Solicitor General wrote.

Slaughter countered Monday that none of the cases referenced by the administration explicitly overrule the Humphrey's Executor decision.

She adds that if the court grants Trump's request, "the agency Congress created would be severely wounded and radically transformed."