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Two Democratic members of the US Federal Trade Commission said they were “illegally fired” by Donald Trump, in the president’s latest broadside against independent federal agencies.
Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya — the only two Democratic commissioners at the top US antitrust regulator — on Tuesday said they were sacked in a bid to quash the FTC’s independence. Bedoya also vowed to take Trump to court.
“The administration clearly fears the accountability that opposition voices would provide if the President orders [FTC] Chairman [Andrew] Ferguson to treat the most powerful corporations and their executives — like those that flanked the President at his inauguration — with kid gloves,” Slaughter said in a statement. Big Tech CEOs such as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg attended the event on January 20.
Trump “wants the FTC to be a lapdog for his golfing buddies”, Bedoya said in his statement. “And to everyone who is watching all of this unfold, don’t be scared. Fight back”.
The move comes as the Trump administration has pledged to take greater control of federal regulators, testing the limits of presidential powers. Trump last month signed an executive order that “reins in independent agencies”, in which he namechecked the FTC.
The US Constitution “vests all executive power in the president, meaning that all executive branch officials and employees are subject to his supervision”, the White House said at the time. A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the firings on Tuesday.
Ferguson echoed this sentiment, saying in a statement he had “no doubts” about Trump’s “constitutional authority to remove Commissioners, which is necessary to ensure democratic accountability for our government”.
The US Supreme Court in 1935 upheld a law that prohibits the removal of FTC commissioners unless for inefficiency, malfeasance or neglect of duty.
The FTC will for now include only two commissioners, both Republican, until Trump appoints new members.
The move is the latest in a series of firings across the federal government, as the Trump administration seeks to slash regulation and public spending in efforts led by Tesla boss and top Trump adviser and donor Elon Musk.
The sackings drew criticism from consumer advocacy groups and think-tanks advocating for tough antitrust enforcement.
It appeared that Trump “has chosen to put the interests of the oligarch and all-powerful corporation first, and the interests of every other American last”, Barry Lynn, executive director at think-tank Open Markets, said in a statement.
Ferguson said the FTC would “continue its tireless work to protect consumers, lower prices, and police anti-competitive behaviour”.
https://www.ft.com/content/de157878-23a6-4961-8f30-60566d7b0d44
