Last week President Trump fired the two Democratic members of the FTC for service that is “inconsistent with my administration's priorities.” The FTC is tasked with protecting consumers and promoting competition by preventing anticompetitive, deceptive, and unfair business practices.
Both fired commissioners, Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, plan to sue the White House, alleging their firings are illegal, with expectations that the lawsuit reaches the Supreme Court. Slaughter was appointed in 2018, during Trump's first term; Bedoya was appointed in 2022.
Here's what we know about the scenario:
- The FTC consists of 5 commissioners, with no more than three from the same political party to help ensure bipartisan leadership. Commissioners are appointed by the President to serve staggered seven year terms, with one designated as the Chairperson by the current President.
- The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in 1935 that the President cannot fire appointed leaders of federal agencies without cause, which includes misconduct, incompetence, neglect of duty, violation of law, or inability to perform duties.
- White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the President's actions, saying “the time was right to let these people go and the President absolutely has the authority to do it.”
- Andrew Ferguson, who was promoted to FTC Chairman by Trump in January, backed Trump's power to fire commissioners, saying, “President Donald J. Trump is the head of the executive branch and is vested with all of the executive power in our government. I have no doubts about his constitutional authority to remove Commissioners, which is necessary to ensure democratic accountability for our government.”
- Alvaro Bedoya said in a statement on X, “This is corruption plain and simple.”
- Rebecca Slaughter questioned what can come next if Trump is granted the authority to fire appointed leaders of federal agencies at will, saying, “If I can be fired, I don’t know why Jerome Powell can’t be fired.”
Here's the catch 22 for Democrats:
Any democrat that accepts the position is ultimately conceding that Trump had the power fire Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter in the first place — which is still in question.
So the best way to fight the order is for no democrat to accept the appointment until the case is heard by the Supreme Court.
That means that in the interim, the FTC is comprised solely of three Republicans, which is all it took to pass rules in the first place. Firing the two democrats didn't swing the pendulum in the other direction when it came to having the majority vote.
So why did Trump do it?
Some argue that this is less specifically about the FTC than it is about Trump cementing his power to fire appointed leaders of federal agencies without cause.
Trump has fired 12 appointed leaders since taking office:
- 4 have not challenged their firings
- 3 challenged and won (2 are now pending appeal)
- 1 challenged, won, lost on appeal, and ended the fight
- 4 challenged and are pending a hearing (including the two FTC commissioners)
What's actually going on here? Is this a power play or are there other reasons involved with firing the democratic members of the FTC?
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Hit reply and let me know.