Court looks set to approve expansion of powers

THE US Supreme Court appeared likely this week to back a bid by Donald Trump to expand presidential powers and curtail the independence of federal agencies.

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US President Donald Trump participates in a roundtable discussion.

(AFP)

The case before the top court stems from the Republican president's firing of Rebecca Slaughter, a Democratic member of the regulatory Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Slaughter was dismissed without cause and lower courts upheld her claim that the move violated rules Congress put in place to protect the members of independent government agencies.

The Trump Justice Department appealed to the conservative-dominated Supreme Court and a majority of the justices appeared to side with the administration during oral arguments this week.

Solicitor General John Sauer, representing the administration, urged the justices to overturn a landmark 1935 ruling known as “Humphrey's Executor” that prevented then president Franklin Roosevelt from dismissing a member of the FTC.