Part One - The Structure of Government · Module 5A
Appointment and Removal
Who staffs the government and who can fire them — from Myers and Humphrey's Executor to Seila Law.
Topics
The appointment power and recess appointments. The removal power. Independent agencies and unitary executive theory.
Reading list
0 of 12 readings published · the rest are in preparation and will appear here as they are edited
- Note Myers v. United States
- Opinion Humphrey's Executor v. United States
- Note Wiener v. United States
- Note Buckley v. Valeo
- Note Bowsher v. Synar
- Opinion Morrison v. Olson
- Note Edmond v. United States
- Note Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
- Note NLRB v. Noel Canning
- Note Lucia v. Securities and Exchange Commission
- Opinion Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Note Collins v. Yellen
- Current case Trump v. Slaughter, No. 25-332 (U.S. June 29, 2026) (edited) (the removal protection upheld in Humphrey's Executor).
How to read this list
A case named without a marker is assigned as an opinion and is to be read in its entirety. Opinion (edited) means the Professor has cut it for length; the text on this site is the assigned text. Note means the case is not assigned as an opinion at all — its holding, its facts to the extent they matter, and its place in the doctrinal line are given in a note written for this course, and you are responsible for that note exactly as you are responsible for an assigned opinion. Most modules close with a Current case, a recent decision chosen because it shows the doctrine you have just read being applied at its live edge; current cases are assigned as opinions. You are responsible for all assigned required materials, including the notes, questions, problems and commentary that accompany the cases, whether or not we discuss them in class.