| Venue: | SCOTUS |
| Facts: | FDR tells Humphrey to resign from the FTC. He does not. FDR tells him that he is removed. |
| Posture: | Humphrey died 1/2 year after being fired, but his estate files suit to recover the pro-rated $10K/year that he was owed in that position. |
| Issue: | Can the president fire people appointed to offices without cause? |
| Holding: | Depends on the character of the office. Not in this case, though. |
| Rule: | Congress has the authority to set terms of office, when it creates agencies, and it has the authority to preclude removal except for cause. If we let the president trample over that, we ignore congress's will. |
| Reasoning: | The intent of the commission was to be non-partisan. If the president has coercive power over it, that will fail. It's pretty clear that the commission was not supposed to be subject to the president's orders, and that's exactly what replacing Humphrey was intended to acomplish. |
| Dicta: | |