The FTC works with five commissioners. Three of them, including the chairman, are part of the political party of the established administration. No more than three supervisory directors can be part of the same political party, and commissioners are appointed by the president for a period of seven years before they Senate Confirmation process.
The dismissal commissioners have been part of the FTC in recent years. One of them, Rebecca Slaughter, was initially nominated by Trump in 2018 to serve a non -expansion term. She was renowned for a full term of office of seven years by former President Joe Biden in 2023. The other commissioner who was fired, Alvaro Bedoya, was nominated by Biden in 2022.
In statements to the media after the dismissals, FTC chairman Andrew Ferguson (r) said that the president falls well within his authority as the head of the executive to dismiss the commissioners.
“President Donald J. Trump is the head of the executive and rests with all the executive power of our government,” Ferguson told the The New York Times. “I have no doubt about his constitutional authority to remove commissioners, which is needed to guarantee the democratic accountability for our government.”
The relocation also follows an executive order that Trump is issued that is looking for more control over what largely independent authorities have been. These include the FTC, the Securities and Exchange Commission (Sec), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
But Slaughter suggested Wednesday that the dismissal is a precedent that FED chairman could expose Powell to a potential dismissal by the president.
“It’s not just about the FTC, it’s about all the structures of the government that protect market stability,” said Slaughter CNBC. “If I can be fired, I don’t know why Jerome Powell cannot be fired.
Powell and Trump have had a bitter relationship in the past. On the campaign track last year, Trump suggested that he should have more influence on the actions of the Fed because of his business experience.
“We get along well. But I think the president should at least say, yes,” Trump said in August. “I feel that I think I have earned a lot of money in my case, I was very successful, and I think I have a better instinct than, in many cases, people who would be in the Federal Reserve or the chairman.”
The Supreme Court set up a precedent in 1935 by posting that the sitting president cannot dismiss FTC commissioner who is based exclusively based on policy crimes. Both Slaughter and Bedoya have vowed to challenge their dismissals in court.
“We will go as far as we have to,” Slaughter told CNBC anchors.
But the Ministry of Justice (Doj), according to A, will no longer defend the independent status of that at the FTC and NLRB Report by Reuters In February. That position was reportedly repeated in a letter sent to the dismissal commissioners on behalf of the president, the New York Times reported.
In an interview with the Times, Bedoya suggested that the FTC could become a caught party with the President’s business allies without the voices of his and slaughter of abnormal opinions.
“When people hear this news, they should not think of me.
Lina Khan, who served as FTC chairman during the Biden administration and who was often a central point of the anger of the private sector opposite the group, shot the shooting in a statement On social media platform X.
“The FTC must enforce the law without fear or favor.” It is a gift for business rights that American consumers, employees and honest companies press. “
