President Donald Trump terminated two Democratic commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday, marking another significant challenge to the autonomy of regulatory bodies.
A White House spokesperson confirmed the dismissals of Democratic Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter after Reuters initially reported the news, but offered no further comments.
The dismissals faced strong backlash from Democratic senators and antitrust advocates who expressed concerns that the actions were intended to eliminate dissent within the agency against large corporations.
“Illegally dismantling the Commission will empower fraudsters and monopolists, and consumers will bear the consequences,” stated Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota.
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The FTC is responsible for enforcing consumer protection and antitrust regulations and has a bipartisan structure to ensure that no more than three of its five commissioners belong to the same political party.
Both Bedoya and Slaughter intend to file lawsuits to contest their firings. “This is straightforward corruption,” Bedoya remarked in a statement on X.
Slaughter added: “The President unlawfully removed me from my role as a Federal Trade Commissioner, breaching both the explicit wording of a statute and established Supreme Court rulings.”
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, a Republican appointed to the commission last year by former President Joe Biden and named chairman by Trump, stated on Tuesday that he has “no doubts” about Trump’s constitutional power to dismiss commissioners, “which is vital for ensuring democratic accountability in our government.”
“The Federal Trade Commission will persist in its dedicated efforts to protect consumers, reduce prices, and monitor anticompetitive practices,” Ferguson declared on X.
Mark Meador, Trump’s choice for the third Republican commissioner, is still awaiting Senate confirmation. It remains unclear whether the Trump administration plans to nominate replacements for the two individuals who were let go. The FTC can pursue or dismiss cases with only two commissioners present.
White House Oversight
Trump has previously incited lawsuits by dismissing members of other independent bodies, including the National Labor Relations Board.
In 1935, the Supreme Court upheld a law restricting the firing of FTC commissioners to instances of good cause, such as dereliction of duty. This ruling protects various independent, bipartisan multi-member agencies from direct control by the White House.
Two federal judges in Washington, D.C., have asserted that Trump’s firing of NLRB Member Gwynne Wilcox and Merit Systems Protection Board Member Cathy Harris breached federal law.
The Trump administration has adopted a broad interpretation of executive authority, and an executive order dated February 18 granted the White House enhanced control over independent agencies.
These dismissals could complicate Ferguson’s efforts to demonstrate that the FTC remains dedicated to safeguarding consumers and promoting competition in U.S. markets.
Commissioner Melissa Holyoak, the other Republican on the commission, along with Ferguson, recused themselves from the FTC’s case against the three largest pharmacy benefit managers, which alleges they directed diabetes patients toward higher-cost insulin to secure substantial rebates from pharmaceutical companies.
These recusals create uncertainty regarding the FTC’s management of the ongoing case.
Klobuchar commented to Reuters on Tuesday that, although she previously supported Meador’s nomination, she has changed her stance.
“I cannot comprehend why we would support their nominees after they are firing people,” she remarked.
Ferguson has reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to scrutinizing Big Tech companies.
The agency is preparing for trials in a case against Meta Platforms and two cases involving Amazon, while also enforcing privacy-related agreements with Meta and X.
