Has the Supreme Court just made Trump the most powerful president in history?

Homepage Accessibility links Skip to content Accessibility Help BBC Accountrequire(["idcta/statusbar"],function(a){new a.Statusbar({id:"idcta-statusbar",publiclyCacheable:!0})}),document.querySelector(".idcta-wrapper").classList.remove("no-js") Notifications Home News Sport Weather iPlayer Sounds Bitesize CBeebies CBBC Food Home News Sport Business Technology Health Culture Arts Travel Earth Audio Video Live More menu Search Sounds Home News Sport Weather iPlayer Sounds Bitesize CBeebies CBBC Food Home News Sport Business Technology Health Culture Arts Travel Earth Audio Video Live Close menu BBC SoundsSounds home pageMenuHomeMusicPodcastsMy SoundsEpisode detailsNews,·29 Jun 2026,·27 mins PlayBookmarkBookmarkSubscribeSubscribeAvailable for over a year SCOTUS overturns 90 years of legal precedent to expand US presidential power, handing Donald Trump a major victory. The court ruled President Donald Trump CAN fire the heads of independent agencies without cause. The justices struck down a nearly century-old precedent that has allowed Congress to protect the leaders of independent agencies from political influence. The court’s landmark decision is based on allowing President Trump to remove a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission, Rebecca Slaughter, for policy reasons. She sued the government, but today’s decision effectively ends the bipartisan, independent nature of regulatory agencies that oversee many aspects of American life. Trump has called the decision a "BIG WIN" and "one of the most important ever given with respect to Presidential Powers.” Anthony and Sarah talk to Professor Kate Shaw from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the co-host of the Strict Scrutiny podcast and ask, is Trump now the most powerful President in history? We also look at cases which didn’t go Trump’s way, and what that tells us about the Supreme Court, and whether it’s prepared to stand up to the president. HOSTS: • Sarah Smith, North America Editor • Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent GUEST: Kate Shaw, Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania and co-host of the Strict Scrutiny podcast GET IN TOUCH: • Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB • Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 • Email Americast@bbc.co.uk • Or use #Americast This episode was made by Purvee Pattni, Alix Pickles and Tom Gillett. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on BBC Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app. You can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers. US Election Unspun: Sign up for Anthony’s BBC newsletter: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68093155 Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including Newscast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below. Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl Radical: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r The Global Story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvsd Top Comment: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m001mssm