In a case that could fundamentally reshape the balance of power within the U.S. government, the Supreme Court's conservative majority on Monday signaled a readiness to grant President Donald Trump sweeping authority to remove officials from key independent federal agencies—a move that would dramatically expand presidential power and potentially dismantle a 90-year-old legal precedent. The justices heard arguments in Trump v. Slaughter, a case that centers on President Trump's firing in March of Rebecca Slaughter, a Democratic-appointed member of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The core question is whether a president can fire officials from independent agencies for any reason, or only for specific causes like "inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office," as current law for the FTC stipulates. Challenging a "Decaying Husk" of a Precedent Arguing for the Trump administration, U.S. Solicitor General John Saue...
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