It's the latest White House firing of officials whose terms have not yet expired
The two Democratic commissioners at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission say they have beenillegally fired by President Trump. TheWhite House confirmed the firing but did not provide any additional details, Reuters reported.
"This is corruption plain and simple," former Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya said of his firing from the consumer protection agency in a statement on X.
The other fired commissioner, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter said the firing violates "the plain language of a statute and clear Supreme Court precedent."
In 1935, the Supreme Court upheld a law that says FTC commissioners can be fired only for cause. The ruling has also been a shield for a number of other bipartisan agencies.
The Trump Administration earlier fired the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, RohitChopra, and closed the agency for several days. It has slowly begun processing some routine tasks but has not returned to full strength.
The FTC and the CFPB are the two major federal consumer protection agencies, regulating crucial consumer interests.
"A lap dog"
The FTC is an independent agency founded 111 years ago to fight fraudsters and monopolists, our staff is unafraid of the Martin Shkrelis and Jeff Bezos of the world. They take them to court and they win,"Bedoya said on a social media posting.
Now, the President wants the FTC to be a lap dog for his golfing buddies."
Slaughter said the removal of "opposition voices" would give Trump greater leeway to pursue his agenda.
The administration clearly fears the accountability that opposition voices would provide if the president orders Chairman [Andrew] Ferguson to treat the most powerful corporations and their executives like those that flanked the President at his inauguration with kid gloves, she said.
Slaughter was sworn in on May 2, 2018.Before joining the FTC, she served as Chief Counsel to Senator Charles Schumer of New York, the Democratic Leader. She was an associate in the D.C. office of Sidley Austin LLP before entering federal service.
Alvaro Bedoya was sworn in on May 16, 2022.Before his confirmation, Bedoya founded the Center on Privacy & Technology atGeorgetown Law and also helped establish the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy as its first chief counsel. In these roles, he helped pass laws to stop the abuse of face surveillance technology and the unrestricted sharing of peoples information with national security and law enforcement agencies
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Posted: 2025-03-18 23:26:25
