Episode 111 | Can Trump Really Fire Anyone He Wants?

Hosts Renato Mariotti and Asha Rangappa are joined by NYU Professor Rachel Barkow to talk about the eroding institutional checks on executive power, and ask: Can Trump fire anyone at will?

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Asha, a Yale University National Security Law professor and former FBI special agent, and Renato, a former federal prosecutor, analyze just how far Trump has gone to undermine the independence of executive agencies.

Rachel Barkow, author of Justice Abandoned: How the Supreme Court Ignored the Constitution and Enabled Mass Incarceration, breaks down the Supreme Court's pivotal role in defining the limits of executive power—and explores the historical precedents that Trump’s “Unitary Executive Theory” is threatening to undo. 

Rachel walks us through the story of Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, a seminal 1935 Supreme Court case that affirmed Congress's authority to restrict the President’s power to remove certain agency officials. Barkow also discusses how the modern Supreme Court could change these longstanding precedents, and lead to a cascade of global consequences.

But it's not just about what's happening in Washington—the trio decodes how these transformations might impact average Americans, industries, and financial institutions. And we’ll tackle the broader human implications and moral considerations of these power plays. 

Be sure to join us next week, as Asha and Renato continue to bring clarity to the complex issues that can’t be boiled down to simple sound bites, right here on It’s Complicated.