The U.S. Supreme Court has delivered a major win for President Donald J. Trump and the constitutional principle of executive authority, ruling that he may—for now—remove three Biden-appointed commissioners from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) without cause.

The decision, which weakens a long-standing precedent designed to shield unelected bureaucrats from presidential oversight, signals a growing shift toward restoring accountability within the federal administrative state. All three of the Court’s liberal justices dissented.

In its unsigned opinion, the Court noted that the CPSC “exercises executive power in a similar manner as the National Labor Relations Board,” referencing its recent May ruling allowing the Trump administration to remove Biden-appointed officials from that agency as well.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, while concurring with the outcome, expressed interest in granting a full review of the case during the Court’s fall session.

At issue is whether the president—now Trump, serving in his second term—can dismiss members of so-called "independent" regulatory agencies at will, rather than waiting for specific justifications like misconduct or dereliction of duty.

Liberal Justice Elena Kagan, writing on behalf of Justices Sotomayor and Jackson, denounced the ruling, claiming it “overrides Congress’s decisions” and undermines legislative checks on the presidency. She argued that the decision risks "permanent transfer of authority" from Congress to the Executive Branch.

Her complaint comes in stark contrast to the conservative majority’s constitutionalist position: that presidents, not unelected bureaucrats or Congress-appointed commissions, are ultimately responsible for executing federal laws—and must be empowered to remove officials who undermine that duty.

The CPSC, created to oversee product safety regulations, has increasingly become a political tool used by progressive administrations to micromanage businesses and enforce sweeping product bans. President Biden appointed three commissioners to the agency in 2021. Just months into his new term, President Trump removed them, citing the need for alignment with his administration’s executive agenda.

The removed commissioners sued, arguing that the agency’s structure prevents the president from removing members without cause—a claim rooted in the controversial 1935 Humphrey’s Executor decision, which limited a president’s authority over regulatory commissions. But in recent years, the Court has been steadily reining in that precedent, reaffirming that executive agencies must remain accountable to the president.

A Maryland judge initially blocked Trump’s removals and temporarily reinstated the Biden-appointed commissioners. But after the Fourth Circuit refused to intervene, the Trump administration took the case to the Supreme Court, which has now reversed that lower court ruling.

While the Court declined to fast-track a final resolution this term, its emergency order sets a critical precedent, reinforcing Trump’s constitutional authority to drain the bureaucratic swamp and assert control over federal agencies riddled with leftist holdovers.

The Supreme Court’s action underscores the broader conservative movement’s goal: dismantling the administrative state that has ballooned in size and influence over the last century—often operating outside the reach of voters and the Constitution.