Trump Fires Democratic FTC Commissioners
President Donald Trump fired both Democratic commissioners on the Federal Trade Commission late on March 18. Now-former commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter both referred to their firings as "illegal."
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FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a statement that the President is "vested with all of the executive power in our government," and that he has "no doubts about his constitutional authority to remove Commissioners, which is necessary to ensure democratic accountability for our government."
Bedoya posted on X that his firing indicated that Trump "wants the FTC to be a lapdog for his golfing buddies."
When asked on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" why she felt her firing was illegal, Slaughter replied that "it's not a complicated question. The statute that governs the FTC is very clear that commissioners can only be removed for cause, for neglect, malfeasance or inefficiency. The president did not allege any of those things on my part or Commissioner Bedoya's part."
CNBC's Sara Eisen suggested that Trump had a right to fire her because of his mandate, to which Slaughter retorted: "His feelings about his mandate don't trump a statute and Supreme Court precedent."