Trump Fires the FTC’s Two Democratic Commissioners

On March 18, President Trump fired the Federal Trade Commission’s two Democratic Commissioners, Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter. The move represents the latest effort by the Trump administration to exert greater control over executive-branch agencies, including bi-partisan independent agencies like the FTC.

The news of the fired FTC commissioners broke when Bedoya posted on the social media site X, stating “I am a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission. The president just illegally fired me. This is corruption plain and simple.” In a statement Slaughter said that the firings violate “the plain language of a statute and clear Supreme Court precedent.” In response, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson issued a statement supporting the legality of the firings, and assuring that the FTC would continue its “tireless work to protect consumers, lower prices, and police anticompetitive behavior.”

FTC Commissioners are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate to fill seven-year staggered terms. By statute, there can be no more than three Commissioners from the same party as the President. The President names the FTC Chair.

In Humphrey’s Executor v. United States (1935), the Supreme Court upheld the FTC Act’s limit on the President’s ability to remove FTC Commissioners. In that case, the Court held that an FTC commissioner could, by statute, be fired only for cause because the agency performed quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial functions. Both sitting Republican Commissioners, Chair Andrew Ferguson and Commissioner Melissa Holyoak, are on record expressing their support for overruling Humphrey’s Executor.

In more recent decisions, Seila Law LLC v. CFPB (2020) and Collins v. Yellen (2021), the Supreme Court held that Humphrey’s Executor does not apply to agencies led by a single head—that is, Congress’ attempt to limit the President’s ability to remove the lone head of an independent agency (in these cases, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, respectively) was an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers.

Recently, two federal district court judges, Judge Beryl A. Howell and Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan, rejected similar attempts to fire agency officials, applying and defending Humphrey’s Executor. The final word will likely rest with the Supreme Court.

Trump’s dismissal of the Democratic FTC Commissioners follows a letter from the Acting Solicitor General to Senator Durbin on February 12, 2025, stating that the DOJ would no longer defend the constitutionality of for-cause removal provisions that apply to members of multi-member agencies. The removals also follow two executive orders, dated February 18, 2025 and March 14, 2025, which assert broad presidential authority over federal agencies, including independent agencies.

In a subsequent post to X, Bedoya stated that he will fight his dismissal in court.

In the meantime, the FTC can continue to operate with a quorum comprised of just the remaining two Republican FTC Commissioners, unless a court concludes that Bedoya and Slaughter were wrongly removed and therefore remain “in office” for purpose of the FTC’s Rules of Practice. Voting together, the two remaining Commissioners can take official action, and will not face the potential of a 2-2 deadlock along party lines. Prior to the firings, any action requiring a Commission vote, such as bringing, settling, or withdrawing cases or withdrawing or amending Biden-era policies and regulations would have required at least one of the Democratic Commissioners for a majority.

Meanwhile, as previously reported, Mark Meador, the President’s nominee for the FTC’s third Republican Commissioner, awaits Senate confirmation. This development could also have implications for state antitrust enforcement. The firing of the Democratic Commissioners could spur Democratic state Attorneys General to take an even more active role in antitrust enforcement.