"Preview: Colleague Richard Epstein points to the SCOTUS 1935 Humphrey's Executor decision that stopped FDR from firing an independent board member -- similar to the present faceoff between POTUS and Fed Chair Jerome Powell. More"
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 18 April 2025
⏱️ 3 minutes
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Summary
SCOTUS 1937
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is John Batchel, a conversation with colleague Richard Epstein of Civitas Institute, |
| 0:07.3 | about the Humphrey Executor case, 1935 Supreme Court. |
| 0:12.7 | Franklin Delano Roosevelt wanted to fire Humphrey. |
| 0:19.0 | Could he? |
| 0:19.5 | Because it was an independent board. What are the powers of an independent board? |
| 0:24.1 | This matter pertains because it is the opinion of some that the President of the United |
| 0:30.2 | States, Mr. Trump, wants to fire Jerome Powell. Mr. Powell's opinion, according to the report, |
| 0:36.0 | is that he cannot be fired. |
| 0:42.3 | The Supreme Court will decide if it comes to that. |
| 0:44.9 | And the Humphrey case is precedent. |
| 0:46.1 | Is it enough? |
| 0:48.0 | Richard addresses all these issues. |
| 0:52.2 | Richard Epstein, the Humphrey Executive Case from 1935, |
| 0:55.9 | Franklin Roosevelt and Donald Trump, together again. |
| 0:57.1 | More of this tonight. |
| 1:04.7 | What happened is starting in the 1880s, independent commissions were put together as part of a general reform movement. |
| 1:06.3 | They had multiple members. |
| 1:11.4 | They were appointed by parts of both parties, and they were given a power to decide these cases. |
| 1:15.9 | And the issue was whether or not people on these independent commissions could be fired by the president as will on the grounds that had to take care to see that the law was faithfully executed. |
| 1:21.6 | And when you had Justice Sutherland to look at this particular case, he decided as many people |
| 1:26.7 | did. The president is actually |
| 1:28.0 | becoming too powerful. This is 1935, Franklin Roosevelt was president. And that, what you, |
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