"The court says Trump is entitled to this power under the "Unitary Executive Theory," a fringe theory that was made up by Republican academics to justify dismantling the regulatory state and that has been adopted by Supreme Court Republicans over the past few years. The theory reimagines every independent agency created by Congress as part of Trump's personal fiefdom. Based on this view, the Supreme Court has allowed Trump to fire members of the National Labor Relations Board (see Trump v. Wilcox);"
"But here's the benefit of using a made-up thing like Unitary Executive Theory: The Republicans on the court can make it do whatever they want it to do. While Trump has been busy waving his magic wand and shouting " unitarium executatus! " at the Fed, he's failed to grasp that the Supreme Court is the author of the entire book of spells. The court can make the spell fizzle out whenever it wants."
"The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday in Trump v. Cook, a case that centers on Donald Trump's illegal attempt to fire Federal Reserve Board commissioner Lisa Cook. The legal arguments should be familiar to anyone who has been watching Trump's authoritarian takeover of the federal government: Trump claims he has the authority to fire anybody he wants; Cook argues " that's not how it works, that's not how any of this works.""
Trump v. Cook centers on Donald Trump's effort to remove Federal Reserve Board commissioner Lisa Cook. The case raises whether the President can fire independent-agency officials under the Unitary Executive Theory. The Unitary Executive Theory, advanced by Republican academics, treats independent agencies as subject to unfettered presidential control and has guided recent Supreme Court decisions allowing removals at agencies like the NLRB and FTC. Republican justices favor the Fed's independence and may limit the theory's application in this context. The Supreme Court ultimately controls how broadly the removal power theory will be applied.
Read at The Nation
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