Terminated FTC Democrats Vow to Take Trump to Court

WASHINGTON, March 19, 2025 – Two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission have vowed to take President Donald Trump to court after Trump said he had fired them on Tuesday, calling the move illegal and a direct violation of Supreme Court precedent.

As of Wednesday, the bios of the two Democrats, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya, had been removed from the commission’s web site.

The normally five-member commission has been left with just two Republican commissioners —  Chairman Andrew Ferguson and Commissioner Melissa Holyoak.

The White House, in letters sent to both Slaughter and Bedoya, justified the decision, saying: “Your continued service on the FTC is inconsistent with my administration’s priorities.”

In an interview with the New York Times, Bedoya made clear that he would not accept his removal. “He’s trying to fire me. I am still an FTC commissioner, and I am going to go to court to make sure that’s clear to everybody.” Major news outlets have also reported Slaughter intends to challenge her removal. 

Legal experts quickly condemned the firings as “illegal”, citing the Supreme Court’s 1935 ruling in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, which explicitly barred presidents from removing FTC commissioners solely over policy disagreements.

“Today the President illegally fired me… violating the plain language of a statute and clear Supreme Court precedent," Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, a member of the FTC since May 2018 and nominated by Trump during his first term, said in a release.

Still, the Trump administration appears poised to directly challenge those legal precedents. 

In a Feb.12 letter to Congress, the Justice Department announced it would no longer defend long-standing Supreme Court precedent on “statutory tenure protections for the members of a variety of independent agencies,” including the FTC, the National Labor Relations Board, and Consumer Product Safety Commission. 

Reactions

Chairman Ferguson rushed to Trump’s defense, saying he had “no doubts” about Trump’s constitutional authority to remove commissioners.

“Trump is the head of the executive branch and is vested with all of the executive power of our government,” Ferguson said in a release, calling the move “necessary to ensure democratic accountability.”

However, Democratic lawmakers and former antitrust officials strongly disputed the legality of Trump’s actions.

Jonathan Kanter, former assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, condemned the move, saying, “Today's action defies direct Supreme Court precedent, contravenes the unambiguous will of Congress, and elevates party politics above consumers, workers, and small businesses,” in a LinkedIn post. 

“There is no valid justification, legal or otherwise, to remove these two excellent commissioners. The American public deserves better,” Kanter said.

Democratic Senators Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Edward Markey, D-Conn., also slammed Trump’s move.

“Trump’s dismissal of Commissioners Slaughter and Bedoya is not only illegal but also hurts consumers by undermining an independent agency that Congress established to protect consumers from fraud, scams, and monopoly power,” Klobuchar said in a post to X. 

“With the Trump administration imminently having a majority at the FTC, the only reason to fire the Democratic commissioners is to shut down dissent and hide his efforts to pad the pockets of his billionaire buddies,” Markey said in a release.

Might courts block Trump’s FTC firings?

On his X feed, Bedoya said he would be testifying Wednesday before Colorado's Joint House and Senate Judiciary Committee and would address his firing there. 

Just weeks earlier, a similar case tested the limits of such an executive action. On Jan. 27, Trump fired NLRB Commissioner Gwynne Wilcox; however, Wilcox fought back, and on March 6, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled that her removal was illegal, ordering her immediate reinstatement. Legal experts say Wilcox’s victory could set the stage for Slaughter and Bedoya’s lawsuit.

In the meantime, the FTC can continue operating with just two members under 16 CFR 4.14(b), while confirmation of Trump's third Republican FTC pick, Mark Meador, awaits confirmation.