Vol. 42, No. 08
08/01/2026
The Fourth Branch Falls: The End of Humphrey’s Executor
AT A GLANCE
• This year the Supreme Court overturned its 1935 decision Humphrey’s Executor v. United States.
• Humphrey’s Executor prohibited the president from firing heads of “independent” agencies for disagreeing with his policies.
• It created a fourth branch of government comprised of “quasi-legislative” and “quasi-judicial” powers, blurring the Constitution’s separation of powers.
• In overturning the 1935 decision, the Supreme Court got it right.
On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States did what it should have done 90 years ago. It buried Humphrey’s Executor v. United States. By a vote of six to three, the Court restored a truth the Framers thought self-evident: The executive power belongs to the president, and to the president alone. The “headless fourth branch” is headless no longer. It is lifeless. The idol erected in 1935 lies shattered on the floor of the temple.
To measure the magnitude of this victory, we must return to the crime that made it necessary.
In 1935, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, a case that altered the constitutional architecture of our Republic. At issue was whether President Franklin D. Roosevelt could remove a member of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), William E. Humphrey, simply because he disagreed with Humphrey’s policies.
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