Hecker Fink Files Amicus Brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on Behalf of Former Chairs of the Federal Trade Commission in Trump v. Slaughter

On November 14, 2025, Hecker Fink LLP, Katie Van Dyck of KVD Strategies PLLC, and Professor David Strauss of the University of Chicago Law School filed an amicus brief on behalf of a group of former Republican and Democratic Chairs of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the Respondents in Trump v. Slaughter.

The brief, which can be read in full here, argues that allowing the President to exercise at-will removal power over FTC commissioners is not required by Article II of the Constitution and encroaches on Congress’ constitutional authority to structure the FTC as a bipartisan, multimember, commission. As the brief explains, the President possesses adequate control over the FTC principally through the ability to supervise and influence the agency’s powerful Chair, who controls key personnel decisions, allocates resources, and sets the agenda for the Commission, including its key regulatory and enforcement priorities. The powers of the Chair and the President’s control over the Chair post-date Humphrey’s Executor and fully address any concern about the agency exercising executive power. At the same time, the President’s claim to at-will removal authority undermines Congress’s Article I authority to structure the FTC as a bipartisan, multimember commission. With such authority, the President could destroy the agency’s bipartisan, multimember character by removing all commissioners not of the President’s political party or removing all commissioners except the Chair. Accordingly, the brief asks the Supreme Court to uphold the separation of power by rejecting the President’s claim to at-will removal authority over FTC commissioners.

The Hecker Fink team includes Trisha Anderson, Joseph Posimato, and Alisha Bruce.