The President has plenary removal power over Federal Reserve Governors under Article II; for-cause restriction is unconstitutional as applied to executive officers.

Constitutional concerns with the original

1. The majority opinion assumes the for-cause removal restriction is constitutional without engaging in a textualist analysis of the Vesting Clause of Article II, Section 1, which vests the executive power in the President. Under original meaning, this power includes the removal of executive officers at will unless otherwise provided by the Constitution itself (e.g., impeachment). The majority relies on post-1900 precedents like Humphrey's Executor v. United States, which allowed for-cause restrictions for quasi-legislative agencies, but this departs from the original understanding that the President must control all officers executing the laws.
2. The majority improperly equates the Federal Reserve's independence with a statutory for-cause restriction, ignoring that independence could be achieved through other means (e.g., fixed terms without removal protection) that do not infringe on the President's constitutional removal power.

Solution text

Operative provisions

Bipartisan rationale

Democratic priorities: The decision respects the need for independent monetary policy by channeling it through legislative, not executive, means. Congress can still create an autonomous body under Article I to manage the money supply, insulating it from presidential interference. Republican priorities: The decision restores presidential accountability over executive officers, consistent with the unitary executive theory. Both parties benefit from a clear separation: the President controls law execution; Congress controls lawmaking. This prevents future conflicts over removal and encourages Congress to design agencies with proper structural safeguards.

Constitutional citations

• → Article II, Section 1, Clause 1 (Vesting Clause)
• → Article I, Section 8, Clause 5 (Coin Money Clause)
• → Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 (Necessary and Proper Clause)
• → Federalist No. 77

Article II, Section 1, Clause 1 Article I, Section 8, Clause 5 Article I, Section 8, Clause 18