1. United States
2. Md.
3. Letter

Congress must investigate the Supreme Court's Slaughter decision and move immediately to restore statutory protections for independent federal agency leaders. This ruling dismantles nearly a century of precedent and hands any sitting president the power to replace qualified public servants with political loyalists — a textbook step in authoritarian consolidation. The consequences are already visible. Seventeen Inspectors General were fired in a single night early in Trump's second term, gutting the watchdogs responsible for investigating waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government. The FTC, NLRB, Merit Systems Protection Board, and agencies overseeing nuclear safety, financial markets, and consumer protection are all now vulnerable to loyalty purges. When those positions are filled by people asking "what does the leader want?" instead of "what does the law require?", oversight collapses and the public pays the price. History is not subtle on this point. Putin, Orbán, and Erdoğan all followed the same path: replace independent officials, silence dissent, and entrench power. Congress has both the authority and the obligation to close this door before it locks. Hold hearings, restore civil service protections, and make clear that government belongs to the people — not to whoever holds the presidency.