The Daily Fuckup

Donald Trump got a real win from the Supreme Court on June 29, 2026. He did not get the blank check he wanted.

The court’s ruling expanded the president’s power to remove leaders of many independent agencies, a major shift in how far White House control can reach inside the executive branch. But the justices also drew a line at the Federal Reserve. In the same round of rulings, they allowed Fed Governor Lisa Cook to remain in her post while the legal fight over her removal continues. That matters. It means the court widened presidential firing authority in important ways without erasing every remaining limit.

Trump’s reaction treated the result like a clean sweep. It was not. The decision strengthens his hand with agencies that had been insulated from direct presidential control, but it also leaves a live dispute over the Fed and over how far the ruling can be pushed. Cook’s case is still pending, and the court’s order said, in effect, not yet. That is a far cry from the total authority Trump’s allies were eager to advertise.

The gap between the holding and the hype is the story. The court made it easier for a president to fire certain agency heads. It did not announce that every independent institution can now be cleared out on demand, and it did not resolve the allegations surrounding Cook’s attempted removal. The legal posture is narrower than the celebration around it.

That distinction is where the next fight will live. The administration now has a stronger argument for presidential control over parts of the bureaucracy that were designed to be harder to direct from the Oval Office. But the Fed exception shows the court is still willing to treat some institutions differently, at least for now. If Trump keeps talking as though the ruling wiped out all restraints, he will keep running into the same problem: the law is not as broad as the boast.