Supreme Court ruling expands presidential dismissal power, crypto regulation outlook remains uncertain

Deep Tide TechFlow news: On July 09, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Trump by 6 to 3, expanding the president’s power to fire leaders of independent federal agencies (excluding the Federal Reserve). The case stems from Trump firing Rebecca Slaughter, a Democratic commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission, in 2025.

As the decision took effect, the SEC and CFTC are in a new cycle of crypto regulation. The SEC currently has only three Republican commissioners, and CFTC Chairman Michael Selig is the agency’s sole commissioner. Former regulators warned that an insufficient number of commissioner seats would weaken rulemaking quality and continuity across administrations, adding that “the fewer people involved in discussions could lead to suboptimal outcomes.” At the same time, Congress is reviewing landmark legislation to redraw the division of digital asset regulatory authority between the SEC and the CFTC, and has urged Trump to appoint CFTC commissioners as soon as possible.

Analysts noted that, against the backdrop of Trump’s close ties with the crypto industry, while this ruling is beneficial in the short term for advancing regulatory reforms, if political winds shift in the future, rules made by a single commissioner will be easier to become “targets to be overturned,” bringing long-term policy instability risks to the industry.