Supreme Court Hands Trump 3-1 Mixed Verdict: Wins Agency-Firing Power, Loses E. Jean Carroll Appeal

The Supreme Court issued four major rulings on June 29, 2026. In a 6-3 decision, the Court overturned the 91-year-old Humphrey's Executor precedent, ruling Trump's March 2025 firing of FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter without cause was lawful — cementing broad presidential power to remove officials at independent agencies (though the majority separately let Fed Governor Lisa Cook remain in her post). The Court declined to hear Trump's appeal of the $5 million jury verdict for sexually abusing and defaming columnist E. Jean Carroll, leaving the judgment intact. In a 5-4 ruling, the Court upheld Mississippi's mail-in ballot law, finding federal election-day statutes do not preempt state laws counting absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day but received up to five days later. The Court also issued a ruling on geofence surveillance privacy. Commentators characterized the day as a 3-1 defeat for Trump's specific legal positions, even as the agency-firing ruling structurally expanded presidential power.