What's Special About the Fed?

IN HIS SECOND term, President Donald Trump has tried to fire numerous federal officials, with varying degrees of success. Courts have occasionally intervened, raising questions about the extent of the president's power to terminate employees without cause and which agencies he can and cannot touch. But Supreme Court justices seem unanimous in their belief that the Federal Reserve is its own creature.

- Joe Lancaster

In January, Trump fired Gwynne Wilcox, chair of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). This was the first time a member was removed since the board was established in the 1930s. Wilcox sued, saying her firing violated a federal law that NLRB members "may be removed by the President...for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office, but for no other cause."

She also cited Humphrey's Executor v. United States (1935), in which a unanimous Supreme Court determined the president cannot remove officers from executive agencies that were created by Congress and perform "quasi-judicial and quasi-legislative" functions for any reason "other than those so specified" by statute. Wilcox contended her firing "defies ninety years of Supreme Court precedent that has ensured the independence of critical government agencies like the Federal Reserve."