How Trump is Trying to Establish Presidential Control Over Independent Agencies
New York TimesMAY 13
Supreme Court Backs Trump's Power to Fire Agency Officials
Above: U.S. President Donald Trump departs the White House on May 22, 2025 in Washington, DC. Image copyright: Kevin Dietsch/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-Trump narrative
Trump has secured another significant victory in his systematic campaign to reshape American governance. This Supreme Court ruling grants the president unprecedented power and fundamentally alters the balance between executive authority and institutional independence that has long defined federal oversight.
Anti-Trump narrative
The Supreme Court has shamefully capitulated to Trump's authoritarian assault on American democracy, blessing his unprecedented destruction of independent oversight bodies designed to protect citizens from executive overreach. By allowing him to fire regulators at will — defying 90 years of legal precedent — the Court has effectively handed a wannabe dictator the keys to dismantle America's constitutional safeguards.