Apr 25, 2024; Washington, DC, USA; Outside of the US Supreme Court as the Supreme Court justices prepare to hear oral arguments on whether former President Donald Trump is immune from criminal charges in his federal election interference case. Mandatory Credit: Jack Gruber-USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Sept. 8 let President Donald Trump temporarily remove a Biden-appointed member of the Federal Trade Commission, the latest fight in Trump's test of his ability to fire members of independent agencies without cause.

Chief Justice John Roberts issued what's known as an "administrative stay" of a lower court's order blocking the removal. That gives the full court more time to consider Trump's argument.

A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled on Sept. 2 that Rebecca Slaughter should remain at the Federal Trade Commission for now because she’s likely to eventually win her challenge.

That’s because the Supreme Court’s 1935 decision in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States upheld the constitutionality of preventing members of the FTC from being fired without cause.

But the Justice Department argued that the commission has changed since 1935 and now looks more like the National Labor Relations Board and the other agencies that the Supreme Court has so far not protected from Trump’s expanded use of executive authority.

“In this case, the lower courts have once again ordered the reinstatement of a high-level officer wielding substantial executive authority whom the President has determined should not exercise any executive power, let alone significant rulemaking and enforcement powers,” Solicitor General John Sauer told the Supreme Court.

The court asked Slaughter’s attorney to respond to the administration’s appeal by Sept. 15.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Supreme Court lets Trump remove Federal Trade Commission member for now

Reporting by Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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