
Humphrey's Executor v. United States is a case decided on May 27, 1935, by the United States Supreme Court. It involved the power of the President to remove a member of the Federal Trade Commission for reasons other than the ones explicitly stated in the Federal Trade Commission Act. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the President could not remove a commissioner for a cause other than those listed in the act, which were "inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office."[1]
In brief:
President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked William E. Humphrey, a member of the Federal Trade Commission, to resign. When Humphrey refused, Roosevelt had him removed, though Humphrey continued to insist that this removal was unlawful. Humphrey died several months later and his estate then sued to recover the wages they claimed were due to him for the time after his removal. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the President could only remove FTC commissioners for the reasons explicitly listed in the Federal Trade Commission Act, which were "inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office."
Why it matters: The ruling set a precedent that the President's could not remove officers from independent federal agencies for reasons other than those listed in the relevant statutes. The court noted that administrative agencies were meant to be independent and nonpartisan, so the President generally could not remove such officers for purely political reasons.
See also
- Appointment and removal power
- Wiener v. United States
- Mistretta v. United States
- Independent federal agency
- Nondelegation doctrine
- Separation of powers
- Rulemaking
- Administrative law
- Supreme Court of the United States
- History of the Supreme Court
External links
- Full Text of the Case via Justia
- Supreme Court of the United States
- Search Google News for this topic
Footnotes