Trump fired FTC Commissioners Slaughter and Bedoya without cause, asserting Article II removal power the statute does not grant

On March 18, 2025, President Trump fired the two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission via email, removing Commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Álvaro Bedoya without stating any cause. The removal letters stated that their "continued service on the FTC is inconsistent with my Administration's policies," citing only Article II presidential authority. Both commissioners publicly declared the firings illegal. Bedoya wrote on social media: "The president just illegally fired me. This is corruption plain and simple." Slaughter stated the firings violated "the plain language of a statute and clear Supreme Court precedent."

The FTC Act, enacted in 1914, provides that commissioners serve seven-year staggered terms and may be removed only "for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office." No cause was alleged or offered in either removal letter. The firings left the commission with only two Republican members and created the first FTC without Democratic representation in the agency's history. FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, a Trump appointee, issued a statement supporting the legality of the firings.

The removals drew on a legal theory challenging Humphrey's Executor v. United States (1935), the Supreme Court ruling that had upheld Congress's power to insulate independent agency commissioners from at-will presidential removal. Slaughter and Bedoya filed suit on March 27, 2025, contesting the legality of their dismissals.

Updates

On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Trump v. Slaughter, overturning Humphrey's Executor and holding that the president has constitutional authority to remove FTC commissioners at will. Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the majority, held that the FTC "unquestionably exercises executive power" and must be subject to presidential control. The ruling retroactively validated the March 2025 firings and cast doubt on the statutory removal protections for commissioners at the EEOC, the Merit Systems Protection Board, and other independent agencies.