The Supreme Court has temporarily allowed President Donald Trump to fire numerous Democrat-appointed members of independent agencies, but one case still moving through the legal system carries the greatest implications yet for a president’s authority to do that.

In Slaughter v. Trump, a Biden-appointed member of the Federal Trade Commission has vowed to fight what she calls her «illegal firing,» setting up a possible scenario in which the case lands before the Supreme Court.

The case would pose the most direct question yet to the justices about where they stand on Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, the nearly century-old decision regarding a president’s power over independent regulatory agencies.

John Shu, a constitutional law expert who served in both Bush administrations, told Fox News Digital he thinks the high court is likely to side with the president if and when the case arrives there.

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«I think it’s unlikely that Humphrey’s Executor survives the Supreme Court, at least in its current form,» Shu said, adding he anticipates the landmark decision will be overturned or «severely narrowed.»

What is Humphrey’s Executor?

Humphrey’s Executor centered on President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s decision to fire an FTC commissioner with whom he disagreed politically. The case marked the first instance of the Supreme Court limiting a president’s removal power by ruling that Roosevelt overstepped his authority. The court found that presidents could not dismiss FTC commissioners without a reason, such as malfeasance, before their seven-year terms ended, as outlined by Congress in the FTC Act.

However, the FTC’s functions, which largely center on combating anticompetitive business practices, have expanded in the 90 years since Humphrey’s Executor.

«The Federal Trade Commission of 1935 is a lot different than the Federal Trade Commission today,» Shu said.

He noted that today’s FTC can open investigations, issue subpoenas, bring lawsuits, impose financial penalties and more. The FTC now has executive, quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial functions, Shu said.

SCOTUS greenlights other firings

If the Supreme Court’s decision to temporarily allow two labor board members’ firings is any indication, the high court stands ready to make the FTC less independent and more accountable to Trump.

In a 6-3 order, the Supreme Court cited the «considerable executive power» that the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board have, saying a president «may remove without cause executive officers who exercise that power on his behalf.»

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U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts attends inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via REUTERS)

The order did not mention Humphrey’s Executor, but that and other moves indicate the Supreme Court has been chipping away at the 90-year-old ruling and is open to reversing it.

The case of Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya gets closest to the heart of Humphrey’s Executor.

Where does Slaughter’s case stand?

Slaughter enjoyed a short-lived victory when a federal judge in Washington, D.C., found that Trump violated the Constitution and ruled in her favor on July 17.

She was able to return to the FTC for a few days, but the Trump administration appealed the decision and, on July 21, the appellate court paused the lower court judge’s ruling.

Judge Loren AliKhan had said in her summary judgment that Slaughter’s case was almost identical to William Humphrey’s.

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Rebecca Slaughter, commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, July 13, 2023. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

«It is not the role of this court to decide the correctness, prudence, or wisdom of the Supreme Court’s decisions—even one from ninety years ago,» AliKhan, a Biden appointee, wrote. «Whatever the Humphrey’s Executor Court may have thought at the time of that decision, this court will not second-guess it now.»

The lawsuit arose from Trump firing Slaughter and Bedoya, the two Democratic-appointed members of the five-member commission. They alleged that Trump defied Humphrey’s Executor by firing them in March without cause in a letter that «nearly word-for-word» mirrored the one Roosevelt sent a century ago.

Bedoya has since resigned, but Slaughter is not backing down from a legal fight in which Trump appears to have the upper hand.

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«Like dozens of other federal agencies, the Federal Trade Commission has been protected from presidential politics for nearly a century,» Slaughter said in a statement after she was re-fired. «I’ll continue to fight my illegal firing and see this case through, because part of why Congress created independent agencies is to ensure transparency and accountability.»

Now a three-judge panel comprising two Obama appointees and one Trump appointee is considering a longer-term pause and asked for court filings to be submitted by July 29, meaning the judges could issue their decision soon thereafter.

President Donald Trump arrived in Scotland on Friday and wasted little time lashing out at European leaders over mass immigration, warning that the crisis is «killing» the continent and calling it a «horrible invasion.»

Trump fulfilled a key campaign promise by effectively closing the southern border with Mexico while Europe and the U.K., in particular, are still struggling to get to grips with the crisis as dozens of boats packed with illegal migrants continue to pour into the country every day from France.

«On immigration, you better get your act together or you’re not going to have Europe anymore,» Trump said to reporters after landing at Prestwick airport on Friday evening.

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«You got to get your act together and last month we had nobody entering our country. Nobody. Shut it down. And we took out a lot of bad people that got there with Biden.»

Biden repeatedly had single days when apprehensions ranged from 8,000 to 10,000 migrants, with his highest single month being December 2023, when 249,785 Border Patrol apprehensions were recorded. 

«Biden was a total stiff. And what he allowed to happen,» Trump continued, chiding his predecessor.

«But you’re allowing it to happen to your countries and you got to stop this horrible invasion that’s happening to Europe.»

Migrants packed tightly onto a small inflatable boat as they attempted to cross the English Channel near the Dover Strait, the world’s busiest shipping lane. (Luke Dray/Getty Images)

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«Many countries in Europe, some people, some leaders have not let it happen. And they’re not getting the proper credit. They should. I could name them to you right now, but I’m not going to embarrass the other ones. But stop this. Immigration is killing Europe.»

The U.K. saw a major surge in 2022 and 2023 when small boat crossings reached over 44,000 per year, according to government figures.

Nearly 22,500 people have arrived in the U.K. so far this year after crossing the English Channel, up 57% on the same point last year.

Net migration to the UK was 431,000 last year, down almost 50% from 2023.

Hungary and Poland are two of the most prominent European countries to take hardline stances against immigration, particularly irregular migration and asylum seekers. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is a Trump ally.

Trump is in the U.K. for a five-day trip where he will check in with his golf resorts in Turnberry and Aberdeen, as well as with British Prime Minister Kier Starmer and head of the Scottish government, First Minister John Swinney.

The president is expected to discuss the latest U.S.-U.K. trade agreement, a deal dubbed the «Economic Prosperity Deal» last month, which agreed to slash tariffs. The U.K. is one of the few countries with which the U.S. has advanced its trade agreements under relatively amicable terms.

A small boat heads off into the English Channel after picking up migrants at sunrise on July 2 in Gravelines, France.  (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

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«I like your prime minister. He’s slightly more liberal than I am, as you’ve probably heard. But he’s a good man, he got a trade deal done,» Trump told reporters. «And they’ve been working on this deal for 12 years. He got it done. It’s a good deal. It’s a good deal for the U.K.»

Trump added that he would be meeting Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission about securing a trade deal with Europe.

«We’re meeting with the European Union. And that would be actually the biggest deal of them all if we make it,» Trump said. 

Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.

Los votantes taiwaneses rechazaron un intento de destituir a cerca de una quinta parte de sus legisladores, todos del opositor Partido Nacionalista, en un referéndum revocatorio celebrado este sábado, lo que reduce las expectativas del partido gobernante de cambiar el equilibrio de poder en la legislatura de la isla autogobernada.

El Partido Progresista Democrático (DPP), afín a la independencia, ganó las pasadas elecciones presidenciales, pero los Nacionalistas favorables a China, también conocidos como el KMT, y el más pequeño Partido Popular de Taiwán, suman suficientes escaños para formar un bloque mayoritario.

Los resultados oficiales preliminares mostraron que los intentos de destitución no lograron remover a ninguno de los aproximadamente dos docenas de legisladores del KMT. La magnitud de estas elecciones revocatorias no tiene precedentes, y otros siete legisladores del KMT enfrentarán una votación similar el 23 de agosto.

El KMT posee actualmente 52 escaños, mientras que el DPP tiene 51. Para que el DPP obtenga la mayoría legislativa, al menos seis legisladores del KMT tendrían que ser destituidos y el partido gobernante tendría que ganar las elecciones complementarias, que deben celebrarse dentro de los tres meses posteriores al anuncio de los resultados.

Para que la revocatoria prospere, más de una cuarta parte de los votantes habilitados en el distrito electoral debe votar a favor, y el número total de partidarios debe superar al de quienes voten en contra.

Las urnas cerraron a las 16:00 hora local. La Comisión Central Electoral de Taiwán anunciará los resultados oficiales el 1 de agosto.

Si los resultados de la votación del mes próximo tampoco son favorables al DPP, significará que el gobierno de la presidenta Lai Ching-te podría seguir enfrentando fuerte resistencia dentro de la legislatura antes de las elecciones previstas para 2028.

El presidente del KMT, Eric Chu, dijo a los periodistas que los votantes habían usado sus papeletas para demostrar que la democracia taiwanesa es madura y sólida, y exigió una disculpa a Lai.

“Todo el pueblo taiwanés eligió la estabilidad, eligió que el gobierno se concentre en realizar su labor, en vez de enredarse en luchas políticas amargas”, afirmó.

Pese al gran esfuerzo, quienes respaldan la revocatoria enfrentaban una “lucha cuesta arriba” al intentar destituir a legisladores en distritos bien organizados y fuertemente controlados por el KMT, indicó Lev Nachman, profesor de Ciencias Políticas en la Universidad Nacional de Taiwán.

El resultado dificultará aún más que Lai impulse su agenda, especialmente antes de las elecciones locales del año próximo, añadió Nachman, experto en elecciones taiwanesas.

“Por ahora, hay muy poco que Lai pueda hacer más allá de buscar otras formas creativas de captar la atención del público”, dijo a Associated Press.

Fu Kun-chi, uno de los legisladores más poderosos y controvertidos afectados por la revocatoria, señaló que el resultado deja a Lai sin más opción que dialogar con la oposición y “buscar una vía para que Taiwán avance de modo más estable en este mundo caótico”.

El secretario general del DPP, Lin Yu-chang, aseguró que aceptan humildemente los resultados, y afirmó que la revocatoria no debe reducirse a una victoria o derrota partidista, sino considerarse una demostración de poder cívico. Dijo que su partido tiene la responsabilidad de reflexionar más cuidadosamente sobre el sentir ciudadano y ajustar su enfoque para responder a las expectativas de la sociedad.

Quienes apoyan la destitución de los 24 legisladores han criticado al KMT y sus aliados por bloquear leyes clave, sobre todo el presupuesto de defensa, y aprobar cambios polémicos considerados como una reducción del poder ejecutivo y favorables a China, que considera la isla como parte de su territorio.

Las acciones de la oposición suscitaron inquietudes entre algunos taiwaneses sobre la integridad democrática de la isla y su capacidad para disuadir amenazas militares chinas, lo que originó las campañas de revocatoria.

Pero el KMT acusó al partido gobernante de recurrir a la represalia política tras perder la mayoría legislativa, sosteniendo que las revocatorias buscan socavar y desafiar el sistema democrático de Taiwán.

Las elecciones han incrementado las tensiones entre quienes desean mantener el statu quo y quienes prefieren mejores relaciones con Pekín.

Críticos acusan a los políticos favorables a China de comprometer a Taiwán y reprueban sus encuentros con figuras del gobierno chino continental. Sin embargo, estos políticos afirman que sus relaciones son vitales para el diálogo, dado que Pekín se niega a interactuar con el DPP.

Consultada sobre el referéndum, la portavoz de la Oficina de Asuntos de Taiwán de China, Zhu Fenglian, mencionó en junio que, desde la llegada al poder de Lai, la administración ha buscado instaurar una “dominación de un solo partido” y ha practicado la dictadura bajo apariencia de democracia, según informó la televisora estatal CCTV. Dicha oficina depende del Partido Comunista chino, que mantiene un estricto sistema de partido único.

Zhu añadió que el gobierno de Lai no ha escatimado en esfuerzos para reprimir a los partidos opositores y a quienes respaldan el desarrollo de relaciones a través del estrecho.

El Consejo de Asuntos de China Continental de Taiwán señaló el miércoles que autoridades y medios estatales chinos intentaron interferir abiertamente en la votación.