Trump Illegally Purges FTC’s Democratic Commissioners, Gutting What’s Left Of Agency Independence

Politics

from the the-purges-will-continue-until-loyalty-improves dept

In an unprecedented move that flatly violates federal law, Donald Trump on Tuesday fired both Democratic commissioners from the Federal Trade Commission — Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya. The illegal purge represents a direct assault on the independence of the consumer protection agency.

While presidents have always wielded influence over independent agencies through their power to appoint chairs and maintain three to two partisan majorities, the law explicitly protects commissioners from being fired without cause. Trump’s attempt to remove Slaughter and Bedoya — apparently for nothing more than being Democrats who might question his agenda — shows a complete disregard for these vital safeguards.

It is customary for the chair to step down when a new administration of a different party comes in, and former FTC chair Lina Khan obliged and left as Donald Trump was inaugurated. Apparently having that typical 3 to 2 majority was not enough for Trump. In the Trump/Musk world of unlimited, unrestrained executive power, apparently any Democratic voice must be purged.

Both put out statements calling out the illegality of such a move. Here’s Slaughter’s statement:

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. 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 law protects the independence of the Commission because the law serves the American people, not corporate power. The reason that the FTC can be so effective for the American people is because of its independence and because its commissioners serve across political parties and ideologies. Removing opposition voices may not change what the Trump majority can do, but it does change whether they will have accountability when they do it. The administration clearly fears the accountability that opposition voices would provide if the President orders Chairman Ferguson to treat the most powerful corporations and their executives—like those that flanked the President at his inauguration—with kid gloves.

I have served across administrations, including during the last Trump administration, and throughout my entire time as a commissioner I applied the same criteria in my work: that the law must be enforced without fear or favor. I have dedicated myself to executing the Commission’s statutory mandate to protect consumers and promote competition, fighting against illegal business practices that make groceries more expensive, healthcare inaccessible, and compromise people’s privacy and security; it has been my greatest honor to serve.

And here’s Bedoya’s statement:

I’m a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission. The president just illegally fired me.

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.

Now, the president wants the FTC to be a lapdog for his golfing buddies.

Together with Chair Lina Khan and Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, I spent my time at the FTC fighting for small town grocers and pharmacists and for people in Indian country going hungry because food was too expensive. I fought for workers getting screwed on pay and benefits and overtime. I fought for their right to organize. I fought tech companies who think they can track you and your kids every hour of every day so they can pocket their next billion.

Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat or someone who’s so disgusted with Washington you can barely watch the news, the FTC has worked for you.

Who will Trump’s FTC work for? Will it work for the billionaires? Or will it work for you?

It was an honor to serve my country at the FTC. It was an honor to work alongside its staff.

And to everyone who is watching all of this unfold, don’t be scared. Fight back.

Tomorrow I will testify before the Colorado Joint House and Senate Judiciary Committees, and will have more to say then.

The conventional wisdom is that Trump’s move is plainly illegal under Humphrey’s Executor, the 1935 Supreme Court case establishing that FTC commissioners can only be fired for cause. But there are growing signals that today’s Supreme Court would love nothing more than to demolish that precedent. And really, why wouldn’t they? The whole concept of “independent” agencies has always existed in a kind of constitutional twilight zone. This Court has shown increasing hostility toward the independence of administrative agencies, and Trump’s illegal purge provides the perfect vehicle for further consolidating executive power — though, of course, that only applies when Republicans are in charge.

The writing has been on the wall for months. Despite JD Vance’s cynical embrace of Khan’s anti-monopoly stance, the MAGA movement was never actually interested in reining in corporate power — they just wanted to ensure that power answered to Trump. Khan’s departure was inevitable, but firing the remaining Democratic commissioners shows this goes beyond normal political transitions into dangerous new territory.

But now illegally firing both Slaughter and Bedoya once again shows that in this Trump administration even the most basic safeguards are gone, and anyone who does not kiss Trump and Musk’s asses at every moment is going to be gone.

The next moves are depressingly predictable. Trump likely won’t even bother nominating new Democratic commissioners. While 15 USC 41 requires partisan balance (“Not more than three of the Commissioners shall be members of the same political party”), the FTC can legally function with a quorum of just two commissioners. Why would Trump fill those seats when he can simply let the FTC operate as a rubber stamp for his agenda? After all, this fits perfectly with new FTC chair Andrew Ferguson’s stated plan to weaponize the agency against Trump’s perceived enemies.

The ripple effects are already visible across other agencies. At the FCC, Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks has suddenly announced his decision to leave, though it’s unclear whether he also faced threats of forced removal if he didn’t remove himself. This leaves just one Democrat, Anna Gomez — and that may only be because the FCC’s three-commissioner quorum requirement means Trump needs her vote to enable Brendan Carr’s ongoing crusade against tech companies. At least until the Senate confirms another Republican.

There’s a certain terrifying, but clarifying, honesty to all this. For decades we’ve maintained the polite fiction that “independent” agencies were actually independent, that partisan balance requirements meant something, that institutional guardrails would hold.

Now Trump has simply declared that fiction dead, and it turns out there’s not much anyone can do about it. The Supreme Court could theoretically step in to defend Humphrey’s Executor. But they won’t. Congress could theoretically exercise oversight. But they won’t. The press could explain how this is a huge attack on the checks and balances of government. But they won’t.

So we’re left with a situation where “independent” agencies are independent right up until they’re not, where statutory requirements for partisan balance are meaningful right up until they’re ignored, and where commissioners serve fixed terms right up until they’re fired for insufficient loyalty. It’s not a great system. But at least now, thanks to these firings, we’re being honest about how it actually works. Without even the fig leaf of token opposition to maintain the illusion of normalcy, we can finally admit what we’re actually dealing with: a corrupt and broken system of pretend checks and balances that only worked until someone decided not to be checked or balanced.

Filed Under: alvaro bedoya, donald trump, ftc, humprhey's executor, independent agency, lina khan, rebecca kelly slaughter