Key facts
- The Supreme Court blocked Donald Trump from removing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
- The court expanded Trump's power by backing his firing of a Federal Trade Commission member, overturning tenure protections for agency leaders.
- The Supreme Court struck down Trump's tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
- The court rejected a Colorado law banning 'conversion' therapy for LGBT minors.
- The Supreme Court cleared the way to strip hundreds of thousands of immigrants of Temporary Protected Status.
- The court struck down a Hawaii law restricting handgun carrying on private property.
The U.S. Supreme Court issued several key rulings, impacting presidential power, regulatory independence, and civil rights.
In a significant decision regarding presidential authority, the court blocked Donald Trump's attempt to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, preserving the central bank's independence. This marked the first time a president had sought to oust a Fed governor since the bank's founding in 1913. Trump had cited unproven mortgage fraud allegations, which Cook denied, as justification, claiming they were a pretext for policy disagreements.
However, the court also expanded presidential power by upholding Trump's dismissal of a Democratic Federal Trade Commission member. This ruling overturned a 1935 precedent that had protected leaders of certain regulatory agencies from at-will presidential removal, invalidating tenure protections enacted by Congress.
The court also made rulings on other significant cases. It struck down Trump's tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, finding that the law did not grant him the authority to impose such tariffs. In a blow to civil rights, the court gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, making it more difficult to challenge electoral maps for racial discrimination.
Furthermore, the court cleared the way for the Trump administration to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Haiti and Syria. It also rejected a Colorado law that banned 'conversion' therapy for LGBT minors, citing free speech rights, and struck down a Hawaii law restricting handgun carrying on private property, expanding gun rights.