Rebecca Slaughter, a former Federal Trade Commission member, urged Congress on Monday to reassert its constitutional authority to check President Donald Trump's power after the Supreme Court ruled he had the authority to remove her from the independent agency.

At a virtual news conference, Slaughter said lawmakers from both parties should exercise their oversight responsibilities rather than let the executive branch accumulate greater power.

"What we really need from Congress is for members on both sides of the aisle, Democrat and Republican, to reassert their constitutional responsibility to provide checks on an out-of-control executive," Slaughter said.

"They have powers to do so, including the power of the purse and the power of oversight."

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Trump had the authority to fire Slaughter and another commissioner, a fellow Democrat, letting the president remove members of independent regulatory agencies despite long-standing legal protections intended to shield them from dismissal without cause.

The decision expands presidential authority over agencies that Congress designed to operate independently of the White House.

Slaughter argued that Congress, not the courts, should serve as the primary check on executive power.

"It is in everybody's interest, whatever party you are from, for Congress to use that power, which it really has been neglecting," she said.

Slaughter, who was appointed to the FTC in 2018 and later served as acting chair, warned that weakening the independence of the commission could undermine its mission to protect consumers and promote competition.

If Congress declines to assert its authority, she said, "I hope a future Democratic president appoints commissioners who will use the agency's authority to protect the American people from the cheating and lying by businesses that are taking advantage of them."

The FTC is charged with enforcing federal consumer protection and antitrust laws. For decades its bipartisan structure has been intended to insulate commissioners from political pressure by letting presidents remove them only for specific causes.

The Supreme Court's ruling is expected to have broad implications for other independent federal agencies whose leaders have traditionally enjoyed similar job protection.

Slaughter said Congress still has the tools to provide that independence if lawmakers choose to use them.