At The Atlantic, Caitlin B. Tully (Ph.D. candidate (Princeton (history)): The Court Has an Easy Answer on the Fed – The Federal Reserve is best understood not as an administrative agency but as a federal corporation—and thus outside of Trump’s control over the executive branch. From the introduction:
Can the Supreme Court impede President Donald Trump from taking control of the Federal Reserve? Can the president remove Fed governors without cause? Since Trump’s second inauguration, these questions have dominated the conversation about the Fed and the future of the American economy.
In its sweeping Trump v. Wilcox decision in May, the Court ruled that the president “may remove without cause” officials in administrative agencies—a decision grounded in the Court’s ringing endorsement of the so-called unitary executive. An elementary application of the unitary-executive theory would allow the White House to interfere, unchecked, with the Fed—just as the Court has empowered Trump to gut every other federal agency. Evidently, though, the Court recognizes the potential catastrophe that awaits should Trump exercise absolute authority over the Fed: The Wilcox ruling carved out a singular exception for the Federal Reserve System, on the grounds that the Fed is “a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity that follows in the distinct historical tradition of the First and Second Banks of the United States.”
Unfortunately, the Court’s statement—vague on this history—is both misleading and not legally binding. …
I’m not sure if this is right but I am confident this is what the Court is looking for.
(Via Legal History Blog.)
Posted at 6:09 AM