President Donald Trump's Department of Justice is seeking to overturn a landmark Supreme Court case in an effort to give the president greater control over independent three-letter agencies.
In a move that could allow Trump to more easily fire officials who refuse to implement his policies, the acting U.S. solicitor general sent Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin a letter on Wednesday, notifying him of the Justice Department's plans to ask the Supreme Court to overturn a key precedent that limits the president's power to remove independent agency members.
The letter, penned by Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris, says the DOJ has determined "that certain for-cause removal provisions" that apply to certain administrative agency members are unconstitutional, and the department would "no longer defend their constitutionality."
Humphrey's Executor v. United States, the case in question, is a 1935 Supreme Court case that narrowed the president's constitutional power to remove agents of the executive branch.
