First Thing: Supreme court backs Trump’s ability to fire agency chiefs but rules against him on mail-in ballots

Decision in case concerning Rebecca Slaughter overturns decades of precedent curbing executive power. Plus how one man survived eight days lost in the Pacific Ocean

Good morning. Yesterday the US supreme court handed Donald Trump – and all future presidents – the power to fire leaders of independent agencies or commissions, overturning 90 years of court precedent curbing executive power.

While Trump celebrated the decision on Truth Social as a “big win”, labor advocates, unions, and consumer advocacy groups criticized the decision on the case, Trump v Slaughter, and warned of the long-term impacts for democracy in the US. Rebecca Slaughter, the federal trade commissioner fired last March, said she was “profoundly disappointed about today’s decision” during a press call. Our columnist, Moira Donegan, says the court’s verdict has again undermined the power of Congress.

What have lawyers said about the verdict? Stephen Vladeck, a Georgetown law professor, wrote: “There’s no sugar-coating [it]. It’s an enormously important ruling. It’s a huge win for Trump/the executive. And it’s going to have massive ramifications for the functioning of the government long after Trump is gone.”

What other decisions did the court make? The supreme court sided against national Republicans and Trump’s administration to allow mail-in ballots that arrive after election day to be counted, upholding the law in more than a dozen states. It also ruled that law enforcement’s use of sprawling warrants that sweep up smartphone location data requires privacy protections under the fourth amendment, in a boost to critics who view their use as an unconstitutional dragnet.

How did Trump and Carroll react? The US president wrote on Truth Social: “Surprisingly, the supreme court declined to ‘review’ a Fake Case brought against me”. Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney, also issued a statement in response to the decision, saying: “Today’s supreme court decision affirms once and for all the jury’s unanimous verdict that President Donald J Trump sexually assaulted and defamed E Jean Carroll.”

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