Supreme Court jurisdiction cases can be a snooze, but two recent decisions—Axon Enterprise v. Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission v. Cochran—are like the rise of the curtain at the start of a dramatic and unpredictable play with broad implications for the future of federal agencies.
The cases involve a maker of police body cameras (Axon) whose corporate merger was challenged (after the fact) by the Federal Trade Commission, and an accountant (Michelle Cochran) accused of misconduct by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Axon and Cochran claim that the very manner in which these commissions operate violates the Constitution in two basic ways.
