Dilworth Paxson Files Amicus Brief in Support of Upholding Independence of Federal Agencies

PHILADELPHIA (Nov. 17, 2025)- Dilworth Paxson LLP with Democracy Defenders Fund represented a nonpartisan group of 13 federal judges nominated by Republican and Democratic Presidents in filing an amicus brief in Donald J. Trump et al. v. Rebecca Kelly Slaughter et al., urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Congress’s authority to create independent federal agencies whose leaders cannot be fired by the president at will or without cause.

“For nearly a century, Congress, the courts, and the public have relied on Humphrey’s Executor to ensure neutrality, stability, and expert decision-making in key federal agencies,” states the brief. “Discarding it now would undermine the constitutional balance and threaten the legitimacy of countless agency actions.”

The brief urges the Supreme Court to reaffirm Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, the nearly 90-year-old precedent that protects the independence of federal agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The former judges filed the brief in support of FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, who was removed from office by the President despite statutory protections that allow removal only for cause. The amici argue that Congress intentionally designed independent, multimember agencies such as the FTC to be insulated from political interference and that overturning Humphrey’s Executor would upend the separation of powers central to the rule of law. The amici urge the Supreme Court to affirm the district court ruling that the removal was unlawful, and to preserve the statutory and constitutional framework that has governed independent agencies for generations. The brief also states that if the decision in Humphrey’s Executor is not upheld, it could set a dangerous precedent for further removals from other agencies.

“If courts cannot enforce Congress’s limits on removal, the executive would face little deterrent against undermining agency independence,” the brief states. “Such a result would erode the rule of law.”

Dilworth Paxson’s team was led by Litigation and Election Law partner Timothy J. Ford and Litigation partner Ira Neil Richards.

Read the amicus brief here. Read Democracy Defenders Fund’s press release.