Separation of Powers

Lawyers for the Trump administration asked the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to cancel or limit two witness examinations next week in Judge James Boasberg’s revived contempt inquiry into March deportation flights, arguing the court is intruding on executive authority and that testimony should be shielded by executive privilege. Boasberg ordered DOJ Deputy AAG Drew Ensign and former DOJ lawyer Erez Reuveni to testify about the decision to deport hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador despite a temporary restraining order; the case was remanded to Boasberg after a D.C. Circuit en banc ruling.

The Supreme Court is hearing Trump v. Slaughter, a direct challenge to the 1935 Humphrey’s Executor precedent that could let presidents fire FTC commissioners at will — Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged overruling while liberal justices warned overturning the rule would destabilize independent agencies, and the Court allowed Rebecca Slaughter’s removal to stand pending review after lower courts ordered reinstatement. Justice Kavanaugh pressed the government on how its theory would preserve Federal Reserve independence, and the Court will separately consider President Trump’s effort to remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook amid broader removals of Democratic agency officials this year.