ISTANBUL

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed President Donald Trump to fire three Democratic members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which oversees the safety of products like toys, batteries and electronics.

The court’s brief ruling did not include a full explanation but followed a recent decision allowing Trump to remove leaders of other independent agencies.

Normally, federal law says that members of the safety agency can only be fired over serious issues like misconduct. But Trump removed them without giving a reason, and the court agreed for now that he had the right to do so.

Liberal Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson disagreed, warning that the decision weakens independent agencies meant to be free from politics.

“Congress wanted this agency to work without pressure from one party or one president,” Kagan wrote, according to the New York Times.

The three fired officials -- Mary T. Boyle, Richard L. Trumka Jr. and Alexander Hoehn-Saric -- said they were removed because of decisions they made, such as banning unsafe batteries and opposing staff cuts.

They had returned to their jobs after a lower court ruled their firing was illegal. That court said a 1935 decision, Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, protects such agencies.

Now the Supreme Court has reversed that for the moment, and the case may return later for a full review.

Since Trump’s second term began, the Supreme Court has given him more power over independent federal agencies.

In a past case, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the president should have control over officials who use executive power. Other justices have signaled that they may soon change or cancel the 1935 decision entirely.