Supreme Court Eyes The President's Power To Say 'You're Fired!'

At the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, the Trump administration is seeking to make it easier for the president to call in the heads of the nation's independent agencies and say those words he was famous for on TV: "You're fired!" In particular, the administration is asking the court to restrict or reverse a decision that dates back nearly a century, and that has been repeatedly reaffirmed.

In the short run, the fate of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau hangs in the balance. In the long run, so too could the fate of independent regulatory agencies that have long governed everything from monetary policy to public health and safety.

A new watchdog for a broken system

In 2008, the U.S. economy was on. Following nearly two decades of deregulation, U.S. banks had been offering home loans to people with poor credit, over leveraging, and engaging in widespread, excessive