Humphrey’s Executor – By Joyce Vance – March 8, 2025

Humphrey’s Executor, by Joyce Vance, Mar 08, 2025

Who is Humphrey’s Executor and why should you care?

Humphrey’s Executor was the plaintiff in a 1930s court case. Mr. Humphrey, a Federal Trade Commissioner, had passed away, and the executor of his will wanted to recover the salary he was due for his work as a commissioner from October 8, 1933, to the time of his death on February 14, 1934.

The problem was that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had fired Humphrey, who refused to resign, after FDR told him, “I do not feel that your mind and my mind go along together on either the policies or the administering of the Federal Trade Commission, and, frankly, I think it is best for the people of this country that I should have a full confidence.”

The issue on appeal was whether the president had the power to fire Humphrey. The Supreme Court ruled that he didn’t. They reasoned that the law passed by Congress that established and regulates the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) set a fixed term of office for commissioners and provided that they could only be removed by the president for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. The Court held that Congress intended to restrict the power of removal to those situations and that presidents are not free to fire appointees like Humphrey just because they are of different minds on policy.

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