Senator Schmitt Files Amicus Brief in Support of Restoring the President’s Authority Over the Executive Branch

Schmitt Urges Supreme Court to Overturn Humphrey's Executor

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court urging the Court to overturn Humphrey's Executor and restore the President's constitutional authority to remove executive officials.

"The President is the head of the executive branch and is vested by the Constitution with all the executive power in our government. Therefore, he must have the authority to remove executive officials who wield power in his name. However, for nearly ninety years, Humphrey's Executor has constrained the President's constitutional authority over independent federal agencies, handing that power to unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats. This effectively created a fourth branch of government, insulated from oversight and accountability. It's time to restore the Constitution's original design, where the President, not faceless bureaucrats, controls the executive branch. It's time to overturn Humphrey's Executor," said Senator Schmitt.

Read the full amicus brief HERE.

Background:

1. In the 1935 Humphrey's Executor v. United States decision, the Supreme Court created the modern concept of "independent executive agencies" that were insulated from presidential control.
2. Recent Court decisions, like Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Collins v. Yellen, have already weakened the Humphrey's Executor framework.

###