The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Monday in Trump v. Slaughter , and the question at hand is whether or not legal safeguards for members of the Federal Trade Commission violate the separation of powers.

The FTC is an independent federal agency established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act . Its mission is to protect American consumers from “unfair methods of competition through law enforcement, advocacy, research, and education.” The agency is headed by five commissioners, nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, who then serve seven-year terms, and no more than three can be from the same political party.

To separate the FTC’s goals from executive political pressure, the Act limited the president’s ability to remove a commissioner to “ineff

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