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Jackson’s Comments on Bureaucrat Control Raise Questions
Clear Facts
- Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson questioned arguments about the independence of federal agencies during oral arguments for Trump v. Slaughter.
- The case examines whether presidents have the constitutional authority to remove members of independent agencies like the FTC.
- Jackson voiced concerns over the possibility of a president replacing experts with politically aligned individuals.
Justice Jackson addressed the issue of who controls federal agencies, focusing on Congress’s authority to establish, fund, or eliminate them.
She asked, “So, to the extent that we’re concerned that there is some sort of entity that is out of control and has no control, I guess I don’t understand that argument.”
The solicitor general pointed to constitutional concerns over Congress informally controlling these agencies, calling it a hazard to the separation of powers.
Jackson questioned how these concerns apply in practical terms and challenged the notion that agencies do not answer to Congress.
She stated, “My understanding was that independent agencies exist because Congress has decided that some issues, some matters, some areas should be handled in this way by nonpartisan experts. That Congress is saying that expertise matters with respect to aspects of the economy, and transportation, and the various independent agencies that we have.”
She warned, “So, having a president come in and fire all the scientists, and the doctors, and the economists, and the Ph.D.s, and replacing them with loyalists and people who don’t know anything is actually not in the best interest of the citizens of the United States.”
Jackson then asked about the risks of giving the president full control over agencies such as the Surface Transportation Board and Federal Reserve.
When given the opportunity, the solicitor general emphasized, “Congress cannot violate the separation of powers and threaten all of our liberties in the way that it structures the government, and it has done so here.”
This debate highlights ongoing concerns over checks and balances and the role of unelected officials in the federal government.
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