The Supreme Court will convene in Washington, D.C., on July 29, 2024. In an op-ed published in The Washington Post, President Joe Biden laid out his proposed changes to the Supreme Court, including 18-year term limits for Supreme Court justices and the development of new rules ahead of a speech tonight at the Lyndon B Building. of court ethics.
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a conservative challenge to job protections for the leaders of federal consumer product safety regulators, a case that would have given the justices a chance to reassess a 1935 precedent that limits presidential firings at certain agencies.
The judge rejected an appeal by plaintiffs, led by the conservative group Consumer Research, of a lower court ruling upholding protections involving the Consumer Product Safety Commission, an independent agency within the executive branch of the federal government.
The federal law that established the agency in 1972 stipulates that the agency’s five commissioners can be removed only for “neglect or dereliction of duty,” rather than on the whim of the president, as lawmakers seek to insulate the agency from presidential control. The plaintiffs sued the agency, arguing that the law violated the U.S. Constitution’s principle of separation of powers between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.
The lawsuit was filed after the agency denied information requests under the Freedom of Information Act from the consumer research group and the second plaintiff in the case, a Texas company called By Two.
Lawyers for Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration are urging the Supreme Court to reject the appeal, saying the plaintiffs lack the legal standing to sue the agency and that Supreme Court precedent nullifies their claims.
U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle in Texas, who was appointed to the bench by Republican former President Donald Trump, ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in 2022, finding those job protections violated the Constitution Article 2, which provides that “the executive power shall be vested in the plaintiff” in the President of the United States of America.
On appeal, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturned Knodel’s ruling. The Fifth Circuit upheld the legal protections provided to consumer protection agency commissioners by the Supreme Court in 1935 in Humphrey Executive v. United States.
In that case, the Supreme Court ruled that the president did not have unfettered power to remove FTC commissioners and blamed then-President Franklin Roosevelt for firing FTC commissioners over policy differences.
The current Supreme Court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, has taken a broad view of presidential power in recent years and expressed skepticism about the broad powers of federal agencies. The case gives conservative justices an opportunity to rein in or disengage Humphrey’s executors.
The challenge, launched by Consumer Research, is backed by 11 Republican U.S. lawmakers, including Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Darrell Issa, as well as Republican attorneys general in 16 states and various conservative and libertarian Group support.
On its website, Consumer Research asks people to report “woke” behavior by companies, saying: “Many companies put progressive activists and their dangerous agendas ahead of their customers.” It also opposes efforts to focus on the environment and issues, as well as corporate governance. ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) investing principles.
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