The Supreme Court reshapes agency independence, upholds birthright citizenship, and more…

IN THE NEWS: 

• The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 

  decision

   that the federal law preventing the President from removing independent members of the 

  Federal Trade Commission

   (FTC) except for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office” violates constitutional separation of powers. President Donald J. Trump 

  removed

   FTC Commissioner 

  Rebecca K. Slaughter

   without citing any statutory cause, alleging that her continued service was inconsistent with his Administration’s priorities. The majority 

  wrote

   that FTC commissioners must remain subject to at-will presidential removal because the agency exercises executive power. The three dissenting justices 

  argued

   that the decision gives the President “a power unknown even to the English Crown” and turns independent multi-member agencies that Congress designed to operate free from partisan control into purely executive bodies.

• The Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 

  decision

   that President Trump failed to provide 

  Lisa Cook

  , a member of the 

  Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

  , with necessary procedural protections when he attempted to fire her. Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., 

  noted

   that the Federal Reserve follows in the tradition of the First Bank of the United States, which was designed to have independence from political pressure. As such, Federal Reserve governors can only be 

  removed

   by the President for cause, which the Court 

  held

   requires notice and a hearing. Because President Trump did not provide Cook with the required process, the Court 

  ruled

   that the government was unlikely to prevail in its case against Cook and 

  rejected

   the government’s application for an order that would have allowed Cook to be removed from office while the case was being litigated.

• The Supreme Court 

  ruled

   that children born in the United States are citizens at birth under the 

  Citizenship Clause

   of the U.S. Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment, striking down President Trump’s 

  executive order

   that aimed to end birthright citizenship. Chief Justice Roberts 

  rejected

   the Trump Administration’s argument that these children are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Chief Justice Roberts 

  explained

   that the Citizenship Clause was designed to codify the longstanding common law principle that people born on a country’s soil owe allegiance to that country, regardless of their parents’ immigration status. Chief Justice Roberts 

  concluded

   that citizenship is “the right to freely participate in our political community,” and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Framers intended to extend that promise to “every free-born person in this land.”

• The Supreme Court held in a 6-3 

  decision

   that the 

  Federal Election Campaign Act’s

   restrictions limiting how much political parties can spend in coordination with candidates violate the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. The restrictions were 

  intended

   to prevent donors from avoiding limits on candidate donations by donating to a political party instead. Although the Court had previously upheld the restrictions in a 2001 

  case

  , the Court on Tuesday 

  ruled

   that the claimed governmental interests in limiting coordinated expenditures did not justify the infringement on political parties’ speech. The Court 

  held

   that disclosure laws and rules about how much money from individual donors to political parties could be marked for specific candidates could address concerns about undue influence by wealthy donors instead.

• The Supreme Court 

  held

   that states may count mail-in ballots received after Election Day if the ballots were postmarked by Election Day, rejecting a challenge to a Mississippi election law brought by the Republican National Committee. Writing for a 5-4 majority, Justice Amy Coney Barrett 

  concluded

   that the federal election-day statutes require ballots to be cast by Election Day but leave ballot-receipt deadlines to state law. The Court 

  reasoned

   that the 

  Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act

   reinforces that distinction by recognizing state authority to establish ballot-receipt deadlines. The ruling 

  leaves

   similar postmark deadlines in effect in Mississippi and 13 other states and may shape future disputes over state authority to administer elections and the relationship between federal election laws and state voting procedures.

• The Supreme Court ruled in a 7-2 

  decision

   that the 

  Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act 

  (FIFRA) preempts a state failure-to-warn claim against Monsanto, an agricultural corporation, over its glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup. 

  Glyphosate

   is a widely used weed killer, which some scientific studies have 

  linked

   to cancer. The majority 

  stated

   that a tort claim requiring Monsanto to add a cancer warning would violate FIFRA’s uniformity requirement, which prohibits states from imposing labeling requirements “in addition to or different from” those approved by the 

  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

  . The case arose from a lawsuit by Missouri resident John Durnell, who 

  alleged

   that two decades of Roundup exposure caused his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. A jury 

  awarded

   Durnell more than $1 million at trial. Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and NeilGorsuch 

  dissented

  , noting that although FIFRA limits states’ power to regulate pesticide levels, it does not eliminate their authority. The two justices 

  added

   that no conflict of laws exists because Durnell’s claim has the same practical effect as FIFRA’s misbranding prohibition.

• The 

  U.S. Food and Drug Administration

   (FDA) 

  proposed

   a rule that would require foreign tobacco product manufacturers to register their establishments and list their products with the agency, extending requirements that currently apply to domestic manufacturers. The proposed rule would 

  establish

   registration and product listing procedures for domestic and foreign manufacturers, helping FDA identify unauthorized tobacco products and conduct inspections of foreign manufacturing facilities. The rule would also 

  require

   manufacturers to maintain product records and provide detailed information about tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, to support the agency’s enforcement efforts. If finalized, the rule would 

  strengthen

   FDA’s ability to identify illegal tobacco products before they enter the United States and promote consistent regulatory oversight of domestic and foreign manufacturers.

WHAT WE’RE READING: 

• In a recent 

  report

  , the 

  U.S. Governmental Accountability Office

   (GAO) examined the management of fishing sites by the 

  U.S. Department of the Interior

   on federal land along the Columbia River. The Interior Department 

  created

   the fishing access sites after federal dams destroyed traditional fishing grounds that had been guaranteed to four Tribes in 1855 treaties. Many of the fishing sites today, however, 

  require

   repairs to address significant sanitation and safety concerns caused by deferred maintenance. GAO 

  recommended

   that the Interior Department update information about the fishing sites in its management system to ensure that the sites are considered for resource allocation and clarify who has responsibility to maintain the sites.

• A 

  report

   by 

  GAO

   reviewed the 

  National Alzheimer’s Project

  , led by the 

  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

   (HHS), and found that the agency has not followed the project’s key recommendations, including setting near-term goals and effectively communicating progress to relevant stakeholders. The project has 

  contributed

   to key achievements in combating Alzheimer’s disease since 2011—including 

  improving

   diagnostic testing and risk reduction, and 

  leading

   the first two approved treatments aimed at slowing disease progression in early stages. HHS officials 

  contended

   that resource constraints make it challenging to follow the project’s key practices as Congress has not appropriated dedicated funding for the project’s efforts. Nevertheless, GAO 

  stressed

   that following key practices would help HHS better assess the project’s progress and clearer communication about its achievements would help stakeholders better understand the returns on federal investments in the project.

EDITOR’S CHOICE: 

• In an 

  essay

   in The Regulatory Review, Rachael Totz and Tasneem Mohammad 

  argued

   that state efforts to expand access to affordable health care depend on the federal framework established by the 

  Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

   (ACA). They 

  explained

   that proposals to reduce federal Medicaid funding and premium tax credits would limit states’ ability to innovate and maintain affordable health insurance programs. Totz and Mohammad 

  examined

   how states have used the ACA to create programs that reduce coverage gaps and lower health care costs. They 

  cautioned

   that reducing federal support for the ACA could shift greater financial and administrative responsibility to states while undermining access to health insurance