Supreme Court: Trump v. Slaughter (Independent Agency Heads)

President Trump is the head of the executive branch, and as the chief executive, possesses all powers over the agencies under the executive branch. However, over time Congress has established agencies considered “independent” of the executive branch’s control. The argument is that by ruling in favor of President Trump, such a ruling could destroy the structure of government, giving the President “near-unlimited power” over agencies traditionally insulated from politics. Such a decision would also sharply reduce Congress’s ability to create insulated regulatory bodies.

To determine constitutional boundaries, we first need to answer a couple questions.

While Congress has the authority to create agencies, does the Constitution provide an allowance for Congress to create agencies tasked with serving them administratively?

No.

What is the purpose of regulatory agencies?

According to Article II, the task of executing the law of the United States belongs only to the President of the United States. The executive branch exists to assist the President in executing the law. Therefore, if a regulatory agency has been created, it falls under the executive branch, and therefore under the President’s executive authority.

Within the federal government, independence is between the branches, not within them.

• Legislative staff answers only to Congress.
• The Supreme Court supervises the lower courts.
• The President, vested with executive power, is the head of the executive branch.

Which brings us to the fallacy of agency independence. There is no constitutional clause granting executive departments or agencies pure independence. The President is their boss. Claims that a president is “authoritarian” for exercising control over agencies are therefore misguided.

Congress’s role regarding agencies solely rests upon creating them. Once the agency is established, the agency falls under executive authority in the same way when once a lower court is created by Congress it falls under the supervisory powers of the Supreme Court since it is the High Court which is vested with judicial powers.

The idea of the existence of division between “executive agencies” and “independent agencies” is a false dichotomy. The Constitution does not recognize such a distinction. Agencies may communicate directly with Congress for efficiency, but this does not diminish the President’s ultimate authority.

Granted, no president can fully control the vast bureaucracy, simply because it is not humanly possible. Priorities and styles differ: some presidents take a hands-off approach, while others, like President Trump, have sought to rein in agency independence to combat corruption, waste, and unconstitutional practices.

Critics argue this is interference, but in reality, it is the President fulfilling his constitutional duty. Agencies are tools for executing the law, and the President may direct them as long as his actions remain constitutional and lawful.

The “independent agency” label misleads the public. Agencies are not separate branches of government. They don’t belong to the deep state administrative leviathan. They are a part of the executive branch. Laws that attempt to insulate agencies from presidential oversight conflict with the Constitution. Congress cannot legislate away the President’s authority over his own branch.

The Constitution does not empower Congress or the judiciary to micromanage the President’s execution of the law. If Congress disagrees with presidential actions, its remedies are limited to defunding agencies or agency operations or initiating impeachment. Ultimately, the people decide through elections whether a president’s approach should continue.

The executive branch belongs to the President of the United States. Agencies, regardless of their alleged design, are not independent in the constitutional sense. They exist to serve the President in his Article II duty to faithfully execute the laws. Any argument to the contrary is a false one, unsupported by the Constitution