U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order aimed at bringing the nation’s independent agencies — including the Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission — under his control, a sweeping power grab that’s expected to spark a legal fight with enormous stakes for the country.

The new executive order, titled “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies,” laments that previous administrations “have allowed so-called ‘independent regulatory agencies’ to operate with minimal presidential supervision” and states that, going forward, “the president and the attorney general, subject to the president’s supervision and control, shall provide authoritative interpretations of law for the executive branch.”

The order goes on to require that “all executive departments and agencies” — including those granted some independence from the presidency by Congress — “shall submit for review all proposed and final significant regulatory actions to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Executive Office of the President before publication in the Federal Register.”

OIRA is part of the Office of Management and Budget, which is run by Project 2025 architect and far-right extremist Russell Vought.

In a fact sheet released alongside the order, the White House specifically names the FTC, the........

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