President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday fired two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a move that immediately triggered accusations of executive overreach and set the stage for a legal battle over the independence of federal agencies.
FTC Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, both Democrats, were dismissed from their posts, with Bedoya announcing his firing in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
“I am a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission. The president just illegally fired me. This is corruption plain and simple,” Bedoya wrote.
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Slaughter also issued a statement vowing to challenge her termination, saying that Trump’s action violated federal law and Supreme Court precedent.
“I woke up this morning, as I have every day for nearly the last seven years, eager to get to work on behalf of the American people to make the economy more honest and fair,” Slaughter said. “But today the president illegally fired me from my position as a Federal Trade Commissioner, violating the plain language of a statute and clear Supreme Court precedent. Why? Because I have a voice. And he is afraid of what I’ll tell the American people.”
The Federal Trade Commission Act provides that commissioners can only be removed for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”
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Unlike cabinet officials, FTC commissioners serve fixed terms and are meant to operate independently from direct presidential control.
However, the Trump administration has long challenged the constraints on removing independent agency officials, arguing that the executive branch should have broader authority over regulatory agencies.
The Supreme Court has previously ruled on the question of presidential power over agency heads. In Seila Law v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (2020), the Court ruled that the president can remove the CFPB director at will, but it has not made a definitive ruling on the FTC’s multi-member structure.
The White House has not provided details on why the commissioners were removed, offering only confirmation of their dismissals late Tuesday.
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