Landry v. FDIC
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
204 F.3d 1125 (2000)
The FDIC (defendant) sought to remove Landry (plaintiff), a bank senior vice president, from his positions and bar him from future participation in FDIC-member banks; an FDIC ALJ held a hearing and recommended the order, and the FDIC's Board of Directors, which conducted its own fact-finding and held sole final decision-making authority, adopted the recommendation and issued the order. Landry petitioned for review, arguing the FDIC's method of appointing its ALJs violated the Appointments Clause of Article II.
Whether an agency's administrative law judges with no final decision-making authority are inferior officers who must be appointed according to the selection method set out in the Appointments Clause.