'Unitary executive' theory may reach Supreme Court as Trump wields sweeping power

Source: Reuters

February 14, 2025 6:16 AM EST Updated 11 hours ago


WASHINGTON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Donald Trump's broad assertions of power appear to be advancing an aggressive version of a legal doctrine called the "unitary executive" theory that envisions vast executive authority for a president, setting up potential U.S. Supreme Court showdowns. The conservative theory's advocates argue that Article II of the U.S. Constitution, which delineates presidential powers, gives the president sole authority over the federal government's executive branch.

It envisions robust powers even when Congress has sought to impose certain limits, such as restricting a president's ability to fire the heads of some independent agencies. The Supreme Court is expected to be called upon to review at least one key legal dispute over the Republican president's contentious actions implicating this doctrine, with numerous legal challenges already moving through lower courts.

Trump's firing of a member of the National Labor Relations Board, an independent executive branch agency created by Congress, may test the willingness of the nation's top judicial body to embrace the robust view of the theory that Trump's administration is expected to present. And the nine justices could be asked to overturn a 90-year-old Supreme Court precedent that limits a president's ability to dismiss certain agency heads. Under the Constitution, the U.S. government is divided into the executive, legislative and judicial branches - set up in the 18th century to ensure checks and balances within the American system.

Advocates of the unitary executive theory argue that presidents legally can remove any executive branch official, including heads of independent agencies, even if such action would violate job protections enshrined in laws passed by Congress. The doctrine was first popularized four decades ago by lawyers in Republican former President Ronald Reagan's administration and may be pushed further during the Trump era.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/legal/unitary-executive-theory-may-reach-supreme-court-trump-wields-sweeping-power-2025-02-14/