MSNBC host Rachel Maddow on Monday delivered a dire warning about the Supreme Court ruling earlier in the day that overturned nearly a century of precedent and "radically" allowed President Donald Trump to control every single regulatory agency in the executive branch.
The Ruling and Its Immediate Impact
Maddow began by highlighting some victories for progressives, noting the court also ruled against efforts to dismiss late mail-in ballots, standardized geofence warrants, and ruled against Trump's attempts to fire a high-ranking official and have the $5 million verdict in his sexual abuse case tossed.
"Today, nevertheless, is going to be remembered at the court for what it told Trump he can do," Maddow said Monday during a lengthy monologue. "In dissent, liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor called today's ruling, quote, 'profoundly destabilizing.'"
The "Rachel Maddow Show" host continued, quoting Sotomayor: "She said the majority ruling in the Slaughter case today, quote, 'gives the president a power unknown even to the English Crown against which the Founders revolted, elevating him above his once co-equal branches.'"
Overturning 90 Years of Precedent
The Supreme Court on Monday overturned 90 years of precedent by ruling in Trump v. Slaughter that multimember regulatory agencies no longer have independence, thus swiftly handing the MAGA leader the power to fire any agency member for any reason. The high court includes six conservative justices, three of whom Trump appointed himself.
"There's a whole bunch of agencies inside the U.S. federal government that were set up by Congress to be repositories of expertise, of technical skill and experience, and therefore to be insulated from political pressure … every time a new president is elected," said Maddow.
She explained, "These are not necessarily the most exciting agencies in the world. They're not agencies that make a ton of news. But you know what they do, right? And they're agencies that you want to have expertise. You want them to know what they're doing."
Maddow's Warnings on Trump's Intentions
Maddow warned Trump is "now free to fire everyone" at highly delicate agencies including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or Consumer Product Safety Commission, and that he can do so whenever "he feels like it" — and replace any official with an unbridled loyalist.
Maddow noted just how often the president has used his position for personal gain before, and that the Supreme Court ruled in his favor "knowing what he's already done with his time in power," citing a flurry of examples since Trump was reelected in 2024.
She pointed out that tobacco company Reynolds American donated $5 million to a Trump-backed super PAC in April, only for the Food and Drug Administration to authorize the sale of their fruit-flavored nicotine vapes "one week later." In 2019, Trump called for such vapes to be banned. He has since curiously changed his mind.
Conflicts of Interest Involving Trump Family
Maddow also noted that his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, secured a financial stake last year in the mining company Dominari Securities, which now "suddenly finds itself getting up to $1.6 billion" from the U.S. Commerce Department for an overseas mining project. She joked this is normal "because, sure, they have lots of mining expertise, right?"
Maddow further slammed the involvement of Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, for "making American foreign policy towards Saudi Arabia" while "simultaneously seeking additional billions of dollars" from the country in a clear conflict of interest for the unelected individual.
The Broader Implications
"So when the … conservative justices on the Supreme Court do something like they did today, these Supreme Court justices are not expanding presidential power in the abstract, right?" Maddow said. "They're expanding presidential power radically for this president."
Maddow noted they're doing so "in the middle of this term, when he is already showing what he thinks is the right and proper use of the power and agencies of the U.S. government" — and ominously concluded that this reveals "what the right … wants for this country."
