You’re Fired
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Monday about the powers and limits of a U.S. President to fire federal employees serving on independent federal agencies. While there are numerous nuances, the core of the case centers on a dispute over how a 90-year-old precedent in a case known as Humphrey’s Executor interacts with Article II of the U.S. Constitution. The administration argues Article II gives the President sweeping authority to determine (and change) the personnel makeup of independent agencies, while opponents argue in favor of limitations established by the previous court decision.
Court observers mostly agree the Justices seem poised to side with the administration, but a ruling is not expected until spring.
Analysis and eternal perspective: “Who has the authority?” It is the correct question to ask in so many of these stories, and it is the question America’s Founders intended to be asked repeatedly.
When the Founders chose to establish a “compound republic” (a phrase used by James Madison in Federalist 51 to describe a government with authority divided in multiple ways—i.e., federal authority divided into three branches, and another division between federal and state authority), they intentionally chose a power struggle over a robust and efficient central government.
In short, they consciously chose a path of repeated disputes over authority rather than a path of “efficient” government. Why? Because they believed history demonstrated a clear and present danger emanating from consolidated power and envisioned a system where multiple repositories of authority would create regular opportunities to reevaluate that division of authority.
In other words, America’s Founders were trying to ensure that cases like the one in this story would be heard for centuries to come. They were choosing a clash between divided authority over centralized power, and they were establishing a self-executing mechanism to resolve those disputes. No matter which argument you think should prevail in this particular case, there is strong evidence the Founders were wise to establish this adversarial system in a broader sense, as it forces the regular reevaluation of the division of authority in America’s compound republic.
As for you, competing forces will contend for the place of authority in your life. You cannot serve two masters (Matt. 6:24). Romans 13 encourages you to subject yourself to the authorities of this world, but to do so mindful of Who has the ultimate authority. Our guiding passage as The Equipped community, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, reminds us it is the authority of scripture that holds highest priority in our life. It is that authority to which we ultimately and resolutely yield.
The preceding article originally appeared in Thann’s “The Equipped” Weekly Newsletter. For more information on Thann’s weekly email, click here.