Vint Cerf, Lawrence Lessig and former FCC Chair Reed Hundt said the Supreme Court’s Monday ruling lets a president remove commissioners from multi-member agencies, undermining bipartisan decision-making at bodies like the FTC and likely the FCC.
Hundt argued that shift guts the commission model Congress built over more than a century, saying agencies that serve at the president’s pleasure can no longer function as mini-legislatures whose bipartisan votes carry legitimacy and survive court review.
Lessig broadened the critique beyond one case, saying the court is making policy judgments while Congress remains unable to legislate on social media and AI, leaving government less able to address fast-moving tech harms.
Cerf contrasted that legal centralization with the Internet’s decentralized design, while panelists said AI governance is already fragmented across more than 50 federal agencies and over a dozen congressional committees.
With federal AI policy stalled, will a patchwork of competing state laws ultimately shape America's technological future?
As executive power over agencies grows, is the model of independent federal oversight becoming obsolete in the AI era?
Can corporate boards effectively govern AI when their own expertise lags so far behind the technology they oversee?
Supreme Court’s 6-3 Ruling in Trump v. Slaughter Grants Sweeping Presidential Power Over Independent Agencies
Overview
On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Trump v. Slaughter, dramatically expanding presidential power over independent agencies. The ruling, authored by Chief Justice Roberts, focused on the President’s authority to remove members of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). By a 6-3 vote, the Court struck down a long-standing law that protected FTC members from arbitrary removal, granting President Trump sweeping new authority over about two dozen multi-member agencies. This decision reshapes the balance between the executive branch and independent agencies, allowing the President greater control over regulatory bodies previously insulated from direct political influence.