Without interference by the president

The NY Times stumbles over its own feet.

Rebecca Slaughter, the former Federal Trade Commission member whose firing was upheld by the Supreme Court on Monday, warned that the justices allowed for the possibility of abuse of presidential power.

That makes no sense. They mean either “the justices allowed the possibility” or “the justices failed to allow for the possibility”. If they were allowing for the possibility then they wouldn’t have upheld her firing.

Anyway. The Supreme Court, folks: let the abuse of presidential power commence…or rather continue and intensify.

Independent agencies like the F.TC. were created to act as watchdogs of powerful corporations, without interference by the president, the former Democratic commissioner said in a statement shortly after the decision was handed down.

“Today’s ruling makes it possible for presidents to fire watchdogs who won’t put politics over principle, and replace them with lap dogs,” Ms. Slaughter said. “It’s a recipe for corruption; working families will pay the price.”

The Supreme Court’s 6-to-3 decision in the case, Trump v. Slaughter, effectively gives the president free rein to fire members of more than 20 independent federal agencies, which are typically led by members of both parties. The decision overturned a 90-year-old law restricting presidents from firing officials without cause.

My first thought was why don’t they realize they’re allowing The Other Team to mess with independent agencies too, and my second thought was they are confident there will never again be an Other Team.