Supreme Court delivers mixed verdicts for Trump
On Monday the nation’s highest court handed Donald Trump a win in a battle over presidential authority while striking setbacks in three other cases that limit his wielding of power and legacy.
The court’s majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, opened the door for presidents to replace bosses in agencies once shielded by Congress. This move reverses a 90‑year precedent that protected independent regulators and could shift the balance of accountability for future administrations.
In a separate ruling, a narrow five‑to‑four decision kept the Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook in place, preventing Trump from exercising a presidential removal power he sought. Roberts cautioned that allowing presidents to fire key financial officials would create “calamities” for the federal system.
A third case saw the court refuse a mail‑in ballot rule that would have let states deny ballots posted on election day unless received by the deadline. The majority maintained that election‑related “time, place and manner” challenges belong in the democratic process, not the courts.
At the same time, the court declined to hear Trump’s defamation appeal against a $5m civil judgment stemming from a 2023 jury finding that he had defamed former magazine writer E. Jean Carroll. Trump marked the ruling on social media as an effort to shut down what he called “lawfare.”
These decisions demonstrate the Supreme Court’s capacity to both expand and restrain presidential power, a barometer of how future leaders may shape their administrations. The outcomes feed into the ongoing debate over the balance between executive authority and institutional checks that define the American governance landscape.
Published 29 June 2026 – North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher
