Which independent agency leaders got fired in 2025, and did any go to court?

"Cook contended that her attempted " for cause " removal by President Trump was not for cause, and that the President had in any event failed to comply with constitutional and statutory processes."

"Harris, along with Senate-confirmed officials at a slew of independent and quasi-judicial agencies, was removed from her post in February 2025, three years in advance of the end of her prescribed term"

"On May 10, 2025, Perlmutter was fired by order of the Trump administration"

"On September 9, 2025, District of Columbia U.S. District Court Judge Jia Cobb issued a preliminary injunction preventing the firing of Cook"

"This precedent was weakened in 2025 when the Supreme Court issued an unsigned emergency stay [ 11 ] in the case of Wilcox v. Trump , reversing a temporary injunction issued by a district court"

"Harris, along with Senate-confirmed officials at a slew of independent and quasi-judicial agencies, was removed from her post in February 2025"

"On September 10, 2025, a divided three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that Perlmutter is entitled to continue to serve as the register of copyrights at the Library of Congress"

"On September 15, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected an emergency appeal by the Trump administration to remove Cook before the September 2025 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee."

"This allowed the removal of Gwynne Wilcox , head of the independent National Labor Relations Board , during the court case contesting the process and cause of her firing."

"Last December, a three-judge panel found that Congress cannot “restrict the president’s ability” to remove officials who “wield substantial executive power.”"

"The decision on the stay was deferred while the Supreme Court considered the cases regarding the firings of Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve and Rebecca Slaughter from the Federal Trade Commission"

"On October 1, the Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal filed by the Trump administration to remove Cook."

"In 2026, in the case of Trump v. Slaughter , the Supreme Court overturned Humphrey's Executor v. United States and ruled that statutory limitations on the president's power to remove officials from the Federal Trade Commission are "contrary to the separation of powers enshrined in the constitution.""

"a case in which the Trump administration has sought to overturn the 1935 Humphrey’s Executor decision through its firing of Federal Trade Commissioner Anne Slaughter"

"On June 30, 2026 the Supreme Court refused to issue a stay, leaving intact an order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit which had restored her to her role while the litigation plays out."

"On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Lisa Cook: by a vote of 5–4, the court held that Cook could continue to remain in her job while her challenge to Trump's efforts to fire her moved forward."

"Court allows Trump to fire appeals board member, which could ‘trap in legal limbo’ feds fighting terminations and RIFs"

"Trump has also sought to remove other Federal Reserve officials, including Governor Lisa D. Cook , prompting legal challenges over the scope of presidential authority to dismiss Fed governors."

"The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Trump v. Cook on January 21 to determine whether Trump has the legal authority to remove Cook over mortgage fraud allegations."

"The case began in March 2025 when President Donald Trump removed two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission before the end of their terms."

"Soon after beginning his second term, President Trump fired FTC commissioners Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya, without citing a cause under the statute."

"Wilcox and former Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) member Cathy Harris had filed legal challenges following their sudden removals by President Trump in 2025, shortly after he took office for his second nonconsecutive term."

"Shortly thereafter, the ousted Democratic officials — Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter — filed a lawsuit , arguing that, under current law, the president can only remove an FTC commissioner “for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.”"

"The district court granted her motion for summary judgment."

"who had asserted that statutory for-cause removal protections for NLRB members limited the president’s authority to remove her from office in 2025."

"The Supreme Court sided, 6-3, with the White House."

"The Supreme Court reversed the district court's order and held that the FTC's for-cause removal provision violated separation of powers."

"The Supreme Court declined to hear Harris’s case in June 2026."

"The court’s decision in Trump v. Slaughter is expected to apply to other lawsuits filed by leaders of independent agencies fired by the president, including Democrat Cathy Harris of the Merit Systems Protection Board ."

"On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court decided Trump v. Slaughter , No. 25-332, holding that the Federal Trade Commission's for-cause removal provision violates the separation of powers required by the Constitution; the FTC performs executive functions, and thus its commissioners are removable by the president at will."

"The denial leaves in place a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit holding that “Congress cannot restrict the President’s ability to remove” an NLRB member since the agency “wield[s] substantial executive power.”"

"Former Federal Labor Relations Authority Chairwoman Susan Tsui Grundmann similarly challenged her 2025 firing, but her term at the agency expired in January, rendering her lawsuit moot ."