The Supreme Court ruled that President Trump's dismissal of FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter without cause was lawful, overturning a 91-year-old precedent protecting independent agency officials.
The decision significantly weakens protections for commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission and other independent agencies that have operated with removal restrictions for nearly a century.
The ruling allows presidents greater authority to remove agency heads, a power that has been constrained since the 1935 Humphrey's Executor decision. That case established that presidents could not fire independent agency commissioners without cause, preserving agency autonomy from executive pressure.
The FTC and similar agencies—including the Federal Reserve, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—historically operated with bipartisan leadership and insulation from presidential control.
The decision raises questions about the future independence of regulatory agencies that oversee major industries and consumer protections. Legal experts say the ruling could embolden presidents to reshape regulatory bodies more directly through personnel changes.
Australia's online safety regulator is urging smart glasses manufacturers to automatically blur faces in recordings and improve transparency about when filming occurs, as lawmakers consider a potential ban.
Grassroots opposition to datacenter expansion is uniting Americans across political lines, potentially creating a new political fault line around corporate power and local autonomy.
Nations and tech companies are competing intensely to build quantum computers, transforming the technology into a geopolitical battleground with implications for cybersecurity, finance, and scientific research.
Chess.com, the dominant online chess platform, has launched Gambit, a free poker site currently in beta. The move marks the company's first major expansion beyond chess in nearly two decades.