{"id":382,"date":"2026-07-30T14:15:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T14:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalconsumerreportss.com\/?p=382"},"modified":"2026-07-30T14:15:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T14:15:30","slug":"inferior-officers-protections-post-slaughter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalconsumerreportss.com\/?p=382","title":{"rendered":"Inferior Officers Protections Post-Slaughter"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>In , the Supreme Court held that the president must have the constitutional authority to remove his \u201csubordinates.\u201d Although <em>Slaughter <\/em>itself concerned the removal of a principal officer (specifically, a member of the Federal Trade Commission), the decision raised significant questions about which \u201csubordinates\u201d could be protected by Congress. Importantly, <em>Slaughter <\/em>raises the question of whether the Supreme Court\u2019s 1886 decision in <em>United States v. Perkins<\/em>\u2014which held that Congress may limit the removal of inferior officers\u2014will survive. The class of inferior officers includes positions that exercise \u201csignificant authority\u201d subject to the supervision of a principal officer, such as assistant U.S. attorneys, immigration judges, and administrative law judges.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nationalconsumerreportss.com\/?p=380\">Lawfare Daily: How Our Growing Software Dependence Threatens National Security<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In <em>Comans v. Executive Office of the President<\/em>, U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff considered whether <em>Perkins <\/em>survived <em>Slaughter<\/em>. The plaintiff, Mary Comans, was fired from her position as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) chief financial officer (CFO) on Feb. 11, 2025. Her position is in the Senior Executive Service (SES), which is the upper-level management in the federal civil service. Although Comans initially sought review of her firing before the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), she ultimately  in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. In , Nachmanoff reaffirmed <em>Perkins <\/em>and soundly rejected the government\u2019s claim that the Constitution prohibits Congress from protecting certain inferior officers from removal. Nachmanoff previously rejected the administration\u2019s claim that Comans must seek review before the MSPB.<\/p>\n<p><em>Comans <\/em>is significant as the first civil service decision to engage with important questions post-<em>Slaughter<\/em>. It illustrates three common questions that remain unanswered. First, does Congress have the power to limit the removal of inferior officers? Second, for purposes of the Constitution, what is the line between inferior officers and employees? Third and finally, do these cases belong in the federal courts or the MSPB?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Can Congress Limit Removal of Inferior Officers?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Article II of the Constitution provides a mechanism for appointing inferior officers in the federal government. The Appointments Clause provides that Congress may vest the appointment of \u201cinferior Officers\u201d in \u201cHeads of Departments\u201d as they deem proper. There is no provision in Article II regarding the removal of officers. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court held in <em>Perkins<\/em> that Congress may limit the removal of inferior officers. It stated:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>We have no doubt that when Congress, by law, vests the appointment of inferior officers in the heads of departments, it may limit and restrict the power of removal as it deems best for the public interest. The constitutional authority in Congress to thus vest the appointment implies authority to limit, restrict, and regulate the removal by such laws as Congress may enact in relation to the officers so appointed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In <em>Comans<\/em>,  that the Constitution prohibits Congress from protecting Comans, because the <em>Perkins <\/em>exceptionapplies only to \u201cinferior officers with limited duties and no policymaking or administrative authority.\u201d That language does not come from <em>Perkins<\/em> but relies on a single conclusory line in <em>Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau<\/em>. In <em>Seila Law<\/em>, the Supreme Court struck down removal protections for the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau but recognized the continuing vitality of <em>Perkins<\/em>. Nevertheless, the Court\u2019s narrow description of <em>Perkins <\/em>in <em>Seila Law<\/em> has become the backbone of the administration\u2019s claims that more senior federal employees, and particularly those in the SES, must be removable at will despite the language of the Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA).<\/p>\n<p>Judge Nachmanoff framed the \u201cultimate question\u201d as whether an inferior officer\u2019s removal restriction is \u201cof such a nature that it impedes the President\u2019s ability to perform his constitutional duty.\u201d He concluded that the answer to that question is \u201ca clear \u2018no.\u2019\u201d He noted that \u201cthe Supreme Court has recognized for nearly a century and a half, beginning in <em>United States v. Perkins<\/em>, that Article II does not create a plenary power to remove all inferior officers and that Congress may validly regulate the method by which they are removed.\u201d Likewise, he determined that this line of precedent remained \u201cunbroken\u201d despite the Court\u2019s recent jurisprudence that permitted the president to remove principal officers from their positions.<\/p>\n<p>Nachmanoff\u2019s decision rests on a long line of precedent dating close to the founding. In his influential \u201c\u201d(1833), Justice Joseph Story expressed concern about the president\u2019s unilateral power to remove principal officers. But he offered the following \u201cconsolation\u201d in Section 1538:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>[I]t will be a consolation to those, who love the Union, and honor a devotion to the patriotic discharge of duty, that in regard to \u201cinferior officers,\u201d (which appellation probably includes ninety-nine out of a hundred of the lucrative offices in the government,) the remedy for any permanent abuse is still within the power of congress[.]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In Section 1531, Story reiterated the broad rule that Congress, when it gave a department head the power to appoint inferior officers, had the power to decide both the terms of the appointment of the officer as well as the terms for his removal.<\/p>\n<p><em>Perkins<\/em> itself relied on this rule to uphold the removal protections for a cadet engineer in the Navy. When the Navy, as part of cost-cutting efforts, attempted to dismiss Perkins without following the statutory provisions requiring either a finding of deficiency on an examination or a finding of misconduct after a court-martial, the Supreme Court rejected the Navy\u2019s argument. Instead, the Court concluded that when it comes to inferior officers, Congress has the authority to designate the terms of appointment by a head of a department as well as those for removal.<\/p>\n<p><em>Perkins<\/em> has now stood for over 140 years. In <em>Myers v. United States<\/em>, often heralded as the source of a strong removal power, Chief Justice William Howard Taft acknowledged that <em>Perkins <\/em>remained good law and that Congress could limit the removal of inferior officers. Dissenting in <em>Morrison v. Olson<\/em>, Justice Antonin Scalia went to great lengths to explain why his opinion was consistent with <em>Perkins<\/em>, agreeing that inferior officers could be protected from removal.<\/p>\n<p>The principle stated in <em>Perkins <\/em>corresponds with the Roberts Court\u2019s understanding of how the removal power enables presidential control of executive power. As two of us have explained, the president remains in full control of the executive power through the supervision inherent in the chain-of-command structure of federal employment. To be an inferior officer is, by definition, to be subordinate to a principal officer who can override the inferior\u2019s decisions. Principal officers are answerable to, and (after <em>Slaughter<\/em>) removable by, the president. Inferior officers therefore do not independently exercise executive power but instead, as Article II demands, operate under the supervision and control of superior officers with final say over who exercises that power.<\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court\u2019s broad rhetoric in <em>Slaughter <\/em>has nevertheless raised doubts as to whether <em>Perkins<\/em> will remain good law. The government  that <em>Slaughter <\/em>reaffirmed that Comans was removable at will, because there is no \u201cmerit to the suggestion that the principles outlined in <em>Slaughter <\/em>apply only to principal officers.\u201d According to the government, the \u201conly exceptions acknowledged by <em>Slaughter <\/em>to the general-removability rule is for officers to whom executive power is not \u2018attached,\u2019 or for those limited to \u2018functions traditionally handled outside the Executive Branch.\u2019\u201d Because Comans exercises executive power, <em>Slaughter <\/em>permits her removal under Article II despite <em>Perkins<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Nachmanoff, however, reaches the correct conclusion that <em>Slaughter <\/em>did not overturn <em>Perkins<\/em>. In fact, <em>Slaughter<\/em> itselfrelies on Story\u2019s \u201cCommentaries,\u201d <em>Myers<\/em>, and <em>Morrison<\/em>\u2014all of which reaffirm the principle that Congress may limit the removal of inferior officers. Despite this clear line of cases, the Trump administration continues to assert a broad power to remove inferior officers at will, making the issue all the more likely to end up at the Supreme Court soon.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Is Comans an Inferior Officer?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The government\u2019s argument rested on a threshold assumption that Comans was an inferior officer rather than an employee. But officer status turns on whether the official exercises  Nachmanoff expressly doubted whether Comans was an inferior officer but did not need to resolve the question because Comans would be protected as either an inferior officer or an employee under <em>Perkins<\/em>. If the Supreme Court ultimately overturns <em>Perkins<\/em>, then the distinction between inferior officers and employees will become significantly more important.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nationalconsumerreportss.com\/?p=379\">The AI That Hacked Its Way Out and the Hype That Followed It<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Comans was a member of the Senior Executive Service, but SES status is not itself a constitutional proxy for inferior officer status. The SES includes positions that perform \u201cimportant policy-making, policy-determining, or other executive functions,\u201d yet the positions vary substantially in whether their authority arises to the level of \u201csignificant authority\u201d for purposes of the Constitution. Many SES positions wield authority that independently affects the legal rights of private citizens or binds the federal government. Other positions, however, principally manage personnel, administer internal systems, provide technical advice, or advise superior officials. The wide variation within the SES personnel system makes it difficult to determine whether an official qualifies as an inferior officer or an employee for purposes of the Appointments Clause.<\/p>\n<p>Comans provides a textbook case of the sort of analysis courts will need to engage in if the Supreme Court ultimately overrules <em>Perkins<\/em>. There is  that Comans was a senior-level manager: She supervised approximately 450 employees and administered FEMA\u2019s roughly $45 billion budget. But the central question is whether she exercised \u201csignificant authority pursuant to the laws of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Many of Comans\u2019s broader duties, standing alone, resemble those of a senior employee rather than an inferior officer. She directed FEMA\u2019s financial operations, oversaw financial systems and controls, and advised senior FEMA and Department of Homeland Security officials. Much of that work was managerial, technical, advisory, or internally administrative. She did not promulgate rules, adjudicate disputes, enforce law against private parties, litigate, or determine eligibility for federal grants. Nor did she possess final authority over FEMA\u2019s budget request or over how the agency would disperse its appropriations generally. Those limitations explain why Nachmanoff doubted that Comans exercised the kind of significant authority associated with inferior officers.<\/p>\n<p>That most of Comans\u2019s duties fall short of significant authority does not end the inquiry. As the Supreme Court explained in <em>Freytag v. Commissioner<\/em>, \u201cThe fact that an inferior officer on occasion performs duties that may be performed by an employee not subject to the Appointments Clause does not transform his status under the Constitution.\u201d FEMA\u2019s regulations vest the CFO with authority to approve certain disaster management-cost decisions, including approving interim obligations, changing the ceiling on a grantee\u2019s indirect and administrative costs, and extending the time before that ceiling is set. Consequently, although Comans\u2019s decisions could always be overridden by a superior, federal law entrusted her with discretionary decisions that had significant consequences for the allocation and availability of federal funds. This authority likely rises to the level of \u201csignificant authority\u201d because it affects FEMA\u2019s administration of appropriated funds within an existing statutory and regulatory program.<\/p>\n<p>Although the question is close, Comans was likely an inferior officer. Under <em>Perkins<\/em>, she may be removed from her position only as provided in the governing statute, the CSRA. If <em>Perkins<\/em> falls, however, courts should expect to perform precisely this sort of analysis. Officer status will not track seniority, head count, or budget authority. Comans had all three, and the question was still close. It will instead turn on whether a statute or regulation routes decision-making authority to the official. This result is odd for civil service law. It is entirely possible that two officials of identical rank and even the same title may fall on opposite sides of the line because their agencies grant the officials different authority.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Can Comans File in Federal Court?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The final question is whether Comans\u2019s removal claim should proceed in federal court at all. Ordinarily, federal employees may not walk into district court. The CSRA generally requires employees to exhaust and channel their claims before the MSPB. As discussed elsewhere on <em>Lawfare<\/em>, employees challenging Article II removals have developed two strategies for escaping this channeling regime. The first reads the text of the CSRA to show that the MSPB never had jurisdiction over an Article II removal in the first place. The second contends that the board has lost the independence Congress assumed when it built the review scheme. <em>Slaughter<\/em> bears on both.<\/p>\n<p><em>Slaughter<\/em> resolved whatever doubt remained about the second. The day after deciding <em>Slaughter<\/em>, the Supreme Court denied certiorari to former MSPB Chairwoman Cathy Harris, leaving in place the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit\u2019s holding that Congress may not restrict the president\u2019s authority to remove members of the board. Those members now serve at the president\u2019s pleasure, and the agency has responded accordingly. It has stopped calling itself \u201cindependent\u201d in public-facing descriptions, and the administration has converted its attorney-advisers to Schedule Policy\/Career, stripping tenure protections from the staff who draft the board\u2019s decisions.<\/p>\n<p>As we have explained, the board\u2019s two remaining members held in <em>Jackler<\/em> and <em>Jaroch<\/em> that Article II deprives them of jurisdiction over the removal of any employee the agency can characterize as an inferior officer. Employees no longer receive an impartial hearing before the MSPB. As a result of <em>Slaughter<\/em>, the MSPB\u2019s members are removable at will by the president and have endorsed the president\u2019s theory of Article II. Requiring federal employees to bring their claims to an adjudicator controlled by their employer makes little substantive or procedural sense.<\/p>\n<p>In allowing Comans to file in district court, Judge Nachmanoff took the first route. Comans had filed an initial claim with the MSPB, where the government argued that an Article II removal fell outside the board\u2019s jurisdiction. Once she filed suit, the government argued the opposite. Nachmanoff . The CSRA grants the MSPB jurisdiction over actions \u201ctaken under\u201d certain statutory provisions that permit the removal of a career SES appointee only for misconduct, neglect of duty, malfeasance, or failure to accept a directed reassignment. A removal premised on Article II is not an action taken under the CSRA. Because Congress never routed Article II removals to the MSPB, \u201cjurisdiction in federal district court, and not the MSPB, is mandatory.\u201d Judge Jesse Furman  in <em>Comey v. Department of Justice<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>This route, however, now looks considerably weaker. In June 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit had endorsed it in <em>National Association of Immigration Judges v. Owen<\/em>, remanding for factfinding on whether the CSRA\u2019s scheme still functioned as Congress intended after the president removed a special counsel and two members of the board. On May 26, the Supreme Court summarily reversed\u2014not because the theory was wrong, but because no party had raised it. The Court also denied the association\u2019s cross-petition, which asked whether the CSRA strips district courts of jurisdiction over claims the board\u2019s own scheme cannot remedy. The institutional-dysfunction argument thus survives, but barely. Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, concurred to explain that the Fourth Circuit had erred on the merits as well: The president\u2019s removals changed conditions, not the statute, and courts may not rewrite a scheme because they doubt it still serves the purposes Congress had in mind.<\/p>\n<p>Civil servants are left with a narrow and contingent path to an Article III court. The textual argument in <em>Comans<\/em> works only because the government disclaimed the CSRA and rested on Article II alone. The institutional argument remains available, but <em>Margolin<\/em> requires that a litigant raise and develop it, and Thomas\u2019s concurrence identifies at least two votes against it. If both paths close, the question with which we began\u2014whether <em>Perkins<\/em> survives <em>Slaughter<\/em>\u2014will make the path to a court much longer. Before the employee can proceed to federal court, the question must first be answered by an agency whose members serve at the president\u2019s pleasure and have already accepted the government\u2019s position.<\/p>\n<p>Only after expending significant time and energy in that process would a terminated employee be able to seek review in court.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nationalconsumerreportss.com\/?p=377\">Sued by the State, Judged by the State<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A district court judge has affirmed removal protections for inferior officers in the first case to consider the question post-Slaughter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-executive-branch"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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