The justices rejected an appeal for the presidential authority to remove commissioners.
The Supreme Court turned away an appeal challenging protections for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, an independent federal agency that creates and upholds the safety standards for all products sold in the United States. The policy being challenged was the protocol for removing commissioners from the five-commissioner panel; commissioners can only be removed for “neglect of duty or malfeasance,” and not by any presidential command requiring their removal.
The Consumers’ Research group sued the commission, alleging that this law violated the Constitution, which requires the separation of powers among America’s executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Since the commission is technically part of the executive branch, the executive leader should have the power to manage it as needed.
The Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal, upholding the decision made previously by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Fifth Circuit stated the 1935 Supreme Court ruling Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, which separated independent agencies from presidential control if they were Congressionally created, sets the legal precedent required to make presidential insulation appropriate.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For the justices of the Supreme Court as they determine which cases they will hear and which will stand according to lower courts’ rulings.
- For Chief Justice John Roberts to be discerning as he presides over the court’s processes.
Sources: Reuters, CNN
