Protect The Public From Politicized Federal Regulation

As your constituent, I urge you to propose a constitutional amendment overturning Trump v. Slaughter and restoring the basic rule recognized in Humphrey’s Executor: Congress may create independent expert agencies whose leaders cannot be removed by the President except for good cause. Because the Court treated this as a constitutional issue, only an amendment can reliably restore Congress’s authority. This is not about one President or one party. It is about whether expert agencies can do their jobs with professionalism and independence. EXPERT AGENCIES NEED INDEPENDENT JUDGMENT Many agencies were created because Congress knew that some duties require steady judgment, technical knowledge, and fair enforcement. Competition, securities, labor, energy, communications, and consumer protection are not simple campaign issues. When agency leaders can be fired at will for political reasons, expertise gives way to loyalty. Officials may hesitate to enforce the law against powerful interests or may shape decisions simply to please the White House. Consumers, investors, workers, small businesses, and ratepayers deserve decisions based on law and evidence, not fear of political retaliation. PUBLIC TRUST REQUIRES PROFESSIONAL INDEPENDENCE Independent agencies do not have to be unaccountable. Congress can require Senate confirmation, bipartisan membership, public records, ethics rules, judicial review, inspectors general, hearings, and reports. Independence does not mean immunity from oversight. It means protection from political firing while Congress, courts, inspectors general, and the public retain tools of accountability. But accountability is not political control. The public benefits when agency leaders can apply law and evidence without fear of political firing. THE HUMPHREY’S EXECUTOR BALANCE SHOULD BE RESTORED For more than 90 years, Humphrey’s Executor allowed Congress to create independent expert agencies for work that should be expert, fair, and stable. It allowed limited removal protections so agencies could serve the law, not a President’s short-term political needs. A constitutional amendment should make clear that Congress may establish independent expert agencies and provide that their leaders may be removed only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, malfeasance, or other good cause defined by law. (1) PROPOSE AMENDMENT. Please introduce or co-sponsor an amendment restoring Congress’s authority to protect independent agency officials from at-will removal. (2) HOLD HEARINGS. Please hold hearings on how Trump v. Slaughter affects the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and other expert agencies. (3) DEFEND EXPERTISE. Please affirm that professionalism, fair enforcement, and stable administration deserve constitutional protection. Thank you.