Trump's way or the highway Trump order declares independent US agencies arent independent anymore Order says independent agencies can't contradict Trump's legal interpretations. Jon Brodkin Feb 19, 2025 2:09 pm | 269 US President Donald Trump's signature is seen on an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 14, 2025. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) US President Donald Trump's signature is seen on an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 14, 2025. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn morePresident Trump yesterday issued an executive order declaring sweeping power over agencies that were created to operate independently from the White House. The order declares that "officials who wield vast executive power must be supervised and controlled by the people's elected President," and that "it shall be the policy of the executive branch to ensure Presidential supervision and control of the entire executive branch."An accompanying fact sheet issued by the White House said the order applies to "so-called independent agencies like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)." The Federal Election Commission is also expected to be affected by the order.The White House said it will require independent agencies to submit draft regulations for review, except for the monetary policy functions of the Federal Reserve. Independent agencies are also ordered to "consult with the White House on their priorities and strategic plans." The order claims more White House control over how agencies spend their budgets.The White House Office of Management and Budget will "adjust such agencies' apportionments by activity, function, project, or object, as necessary and appropriate, to advance the President's policies and priorities," the executive order said. These budget changes "may prohibit independent regulatory agencies from expending appropriations on particular activities, functions, projects, or objects, so long as such restrictions are consistent with law."The executive order is likely to be challenged in court. Separately, the Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to reverse a judge's ruling that blocked Trump's attempt to fire the head of the Office of Special Counsel, an independent agency that protects government whistleblowers.Order: Dont contradict the presidentEmployees of independent agencies would also be forbidden from issuing legal interpretations that contradict the president's legal interpretations. "No employee of the executive branch acting in their official capacity may advance an interpretation of the law as the position of the United States that contravenes the President or the Attorney General's opinion on a matter of law, including but not limited to the issuance of regulations, guidance, and positions advanced in litigation, unless authorized to do so by the President or in writing by the Attorney General," the Trump order said.The White House fact sheet said the goal of this provision is to ensure that the president and attorney general "interpret the law for the executive branch, instead of having separate agencies adopt conflicting interpretations."John Bergmayer, legal director of consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge, said Trump's order is based on a "unitary executive" theory that "has made its way from the fringes of academia to the halls of power.""In this latest Executive Order, the Trump regime purports to seize for itself the power Congress delegated to independent regulatory agencies, and as written, declares the White House's interpretation of the law as 'authoritative,' with no mention of the courts," Bergmayer said. "Of course, the president is not, and never has been, the final arbiter of what is lawful. Lawyers working for the government owe their allegiance to the American people, not to President Donald J. Trump."Trump's OMB director, Russell Vought, told Tucker Carlson in a recent interview that "there are no independent agencies. Congress may have viewed them as suchSEC or the FCC, CFPB, the whole alphabet soupbut that is not something that the Constitution understands. So there may be different strategies with each one of them about how you dismantle them, but as an administration, the whole notion of an independent agency should be thrown out."Extending Trumps gripAlthough the president nominates commissioners and appoints chairs at agencies like the FCC, independent agencies are supposed to make their own decisions. A 2023 report by the Congressional Research Service said an independent agency is "a freestanding executive branch organization that is not part of any department or other agency," and which has "greater autonomy from the President's leadership and insulation from partisan politics than is typical of executive branch agencies."Other independent agencies include the National Labor Relations Board and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the report said. Laws approved by Congress specify the authority of independent agencies along with the agencies' "goals, principles, missions, and mandates," the report said."Given Trump's insistence on complete loyalty to him on the part of all government employees, this move is designed to extend his grip on the government to areas that previously have been nonpartisan," NPR quoted UC Berkeley Law Professor Daniel Farber as saying.The FCC's independence was a major point of contention a decade ago when President Obama publicly urged the agency to impose net neutrality rules and regulate Internet service providers as common carriers. Republicans in Congress claimed Obama exerted improper influence over the process.The FCC chairman in Trump's first term, Ajit Pai, repeatedly claimed that the FCC imposed net neutrality rules in 2015 largely because Obama ordered it to do so. The FCC's independent Inspector General's office investigated and found "no evidence" of improper use of power by the White House. Obama's statements "were made known in the record, in full view of all," the inspector general's report said.Agencies must submit proposed rules for reviewTrump's order requires independent agencies to "submit for review all proposed and final significant regulatory actions to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Executive Office of the President before publication in the Federal Register." This means the White House will review potential regulations before an agency seeks comment from the public.The order further requires the head of each independent regulatory agency to establish a position of White House Liaison to handle communications with the White House.FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is already on board with Trump's regulatory priorities in multiple areas. Carr has consistently opposed regulation of the telecom providers that the FCC traditionally oversees and is launching investigations of news organizations accused of bias against Trump and conservatives.Previous FCC chairs from both major political parties rejected Trump's calls to revoke broadcast licenses based on the content of news programs, saying that the First Amendment forbids it. By contrast, Carr has threatened to revoke licenses and embraced Trump's view that broadcasters should be punished for supposed anti-conservative bias.Trump targeting the power of the SEC aligns with one of Elon Musk's pet peeves. Musk repeatedly clashed with the agency over his failure to disclose 2022 purchases of Twitter stock before a legal deadline. Musk also tried and failed to terminate his settlement with the SEC over his 2018 tweets claiming he had secured funding to take Tesla private.Jon BrodkinSenior IT ReporterJon BrodkinSenior IT Reporter Jon is a Senior IT Reporter for Ars Technica. He covers the telecom industry, Federal Communications Commission rulemakings, broadband consumer affairs, court cases, and government regulation of the tech industry. 269 Comments