Fired FTC Official Slaughter: Trump Put Big Tech Above the Law
Democrat says FTC lost two Big Tech watchdogs over Meta, X, and Amazon.
Jericho Casper
WASHINGTON, March 26, 2025 – The two Democrats who were recently ousted from the Federal Trade Commission appeared as a united front at a House subcommittee on Wednesday, where one warned that dismantling the FTC’s bipartisan structure could derail efforts to protect children online and shield Big Tech from accountability.
Former FTC Commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya – who were removed by President Donald Trump last Tuesday in what many argued was an illegal move – have said their roles on the commission were essential to holding powerful tech companies accountable.
“My colleague, Commissioner Bedoya, has been a particular thought leader on the issue of kids and the attention economy and online addictive behavior. This is something we care incredibly deeply about,” Slaughter said, testifying before the House Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee during a hearing titled “The World Wild Web: Examining Harms Online,” which focused heavily on the risks children face on digital platforms. Bedoya, who sat near Slaughter, did not testify.
Slaughter pointed to a recent FTC complaint against Snap Inc. to the Justice Department regarding a Snapchat AI chatbot in January. The commission alleged that the chatbot engaged in inappropriate or unsafe interactions with young users. Slaughter noted that the referral was not unanimous, pointing out that now-Chairman Andrew Ferguson dissented, citing concerns about the chatbot’s First Amendment rights.
She also pointed to the FTC’s $520 million settlement with Epic Games in December 2023 over deceptive practices in the popular online multiplayer game Fortnite, including tricking children into making in-game purchases and allowing contact between kids and strangers.
Bedoya, who sat behind Slaughter as she testified, appeared before the Colorado Joint House and Senate Judiciary Committees on March 19, where he suggested that his enforcement actions against companies linked to President Trump’s allies — Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk — may have played a role in his removal from the FTC.
Slaughter said she and Bedoya plan to take legal action in response to their dismissal.
“Commissioner Bedoya and I will be challenging our illegal removals. We are working to vindicate the law Congress passed because we care deeply about the honesty and the integrity of the FTCs work and how it affects the American people,” she reinforced.
Ferguson has defended the firings as consistent with President Trump’s constitutional authority as the federal government’s chief executive officer.
The firings have left the FTC with just two sitting members, both Republicans, as Trump’s third Republican nominee, Mark Meador, awaits Senate confirmation.
“The illegal firings sent a clear message to the FTCs majority commissioners: You now work under the shadow of arbitrary removal by the President,” Slaughter said. “Today's oligarchs have surely noticed that it is not the independent experts at the FTC or the courts who will decide their fate, but the President himself and I fear what corporate law breakers will get away with.”
Tensions at the hearing ran high, with Democrats accusing Trump of gutting the commission to protect powerful tech allies. Ranking Member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., pressed Republicans to speak out, warning that ignoring the removals sets a dangerous precedent.
“If this illegal move is allowed to stand, is anything stopping President Trump from removing any sitting Commissioner, including those from the Republican Party, for launching investigations he does not agree with or refusing to dismiss cases against his crooked big tech buddies?” Pallone asked.
“If I can legally be removed in violation of the plain language of the statute, I don’t think there’s anything that would stop other commissioners from being removed,” Slaughter said, emphasizing the same statutory principle that protects FTC commissioners from removal, protects members of the Federal Reserve and other independent agencies.
