The appeal from two “educational organizations,” alleged that the 52-year-old independent consumer protection agency violates the Constitution because its five-member board can only be removed by the president for cause.
A federal appeals court had ruled against the groups and so the Supreme Court’s decision to deny the case leaves the agency’s structure in place.
The case is the latest stop in a years-long legal battle over independent agencies Congress creates and attempts to insulate from politics and the whims of a president. Critics say those independent agencies, whose boards cannot be easily removed, raise significant separation of powers concerns.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission can “ban products, file enforcement suits, and secure eight-figure penalties,” the groups told the Supreme Court. “But it does all of this outside the lines of political accountability.”
What is going on right now? Does the SJC suddenly feel the need to play both sides of the field? (I may have the wrong metaphor. I apologize.)
I’m not sure if it’s clear, but they are trying to keep it so the president has the power to fire anyone they want and congress hires them. We’ve seen how that can go when certain presidents have control of the congress as well.
This is consistent with conservatives gutting other regulators that exist to protect the public from corporate exploitation.