Supreme Court's Trump v. Slaughter Ruling Reopens Questions Over EU-US Data Privacy Framework
On June 29, 2026, the US Supreme Court issued Trump v. Slaughter, a separation-of-powers ruling holding that restrictions on presidential authority to remove executive officials — including at the Federal Trade Commission — are unconstitutional; while the opinion never mentions the GDPR or the Data Privacy Framework, privacy advocates including Max Schrems and noyb argue it undermines the FTC's in
BY FRONTIER DESK · JULY 2, 2026 · 1 MIN READ
On June 29, 2026, the US Supreme Court issued Trump v. Slaughter, a separation-of-powers ruling holding that restrictions on presidential authority to remove executive officials — including at the Federal Trade Commission — are unconstitutional; while the opinion never mentions the GDPR or the Data Privacy Framework, privacy advocates including Max Schrems and noyb argue it undermines the FTC's independence, a factual premise underlying the European Commission's 2023 adequacy decision. Data protection counsel should treat this as an early-warning signal rather than an active compliance emergency: the adequacy decision remains in effect, no EU authority has instructed companies to stop relying on the DPF, and certified US companies remain listed. However, noyb has formally asked the European Commission to begin an orderly withdrawal and has signaled intent to litigate, raising the prospect of a "Schrems III" case reaching the CJEU within the next several years. Firms should advise multinational clients to confirm which transfer mechanism they rely on (DPF, SCCs, BCRs, or Article 49 derogations), refresh Transfer Impact Assessments, and monitor European Commission and EDPB guidance closely, since a repeat of the Safe Harbor/Privacy Shield invalidation cycle would force rapid re-papering of transatlantic data flows.