Donald Trump fires 2 Democratic commissioners at Federal Trade Commission
President Donald Trump has fired the two Democratic commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission, a White House official said on Tuesday, in another major test of the independence of regulatory agencies.
Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter released separate statements earlier in the day saying they had been fired from the consumer protection agency. Both characterized their firings as illegal.
Trump has already sparked lawsuits by fired members of other independent agencies including the National Labor Relations Board. A federal judge ordered Gwynne Wilcox reinstated to the NLRB after Trump fired her. Another judge ordered the reinstatement of a commissioner to the Merit Systems Protection Board, which protects civil servants from being fired for political reasons.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1935 to uphold a law that allows FTC commissioners to be fired only for good cause, such as neglecting their duties. The ruling shields a number of independent, bipartisan multi-member agencies from direct control by the White House.
Bedoya implied he would sue to block his termination, writing that Trump "tried to illegally fire me. I’ll see the president in court."
Contributing: Ben Adler, Joey Garrison of Paste BN, Nandita Bose of Reuters