Supreme Court Expands President’s Power to Fire Top Officials

Supreme Court ruled Lisa Cook (Fed Governor) can stay for now, preserving Fed independence in this case, but expanded presidential removal power over other agencies (overturning Humphrey's Executor precedent). Mail-in ballot ruling (5-4) allows ballots postmarked by Election Day to arrive up to 5 days later, a surprise win for voting access. Markets showed modest gains in S&P/Dow/Nasdaq but Russell 2000 fell 1.1% around the opinion release.

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Supreme Court Expands President’s Power to Fire Top Officials

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modest gains in the S&P Dow and Nasdaq

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Russell 2000 is lower by 1.1%

June Grasso

Supreme Court ruled Lisa Cook can stay as Fed Governor for now, preserving Fed independence in this specific case, but expanded presidential power to fire heads of other agencies (20+ agencies affected), overturning 70-80 year old Humphrey's Executor precedent.

Court distinguished Fed as 'different' due to its unique status. Justice Kavanaugh had previously stated 'the Fed is different'. The slaughter case (FTC) was treated differently because it's not the Fed.
Stocks fell to session lows around the time the opinion was published, then recovered to modest gains. S&P, Dow, Nasdaq up modestly; Russell 2000 down 1.1%.

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June Grasso

The unitary executive theory is driving these rulings - the belief that executive branch power should be concentrated in the president, allowing him to fire agency heads at will.

This opens the door for political pressure on agencies. While the Fed was protected this time, the precedent weakens independence of other regulatory bodies like the FTC.
June Grasso

Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day can arrive up to 5 days after and still be counted, a surprise decision written by Justice Barrett.

This affects 20+ states with similar laws. Republicans and President Trump opposed this. The ruling could significantly impact midterm elections.
June Grasso

This court has been consistently expanding presidential power, including rulings that presidents cannot be prosecuted for official acts.

One must wonder if a future non-Republican president will face calls to cut back on this expanded presidential power.

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