Rebecca kelly slaughter and alvaro bedoya, the two democratic commissioners on the federal trade commission where we have fired earlier this month by present donald trump with a small Suing Donald Trump and Ftc Leadership Over their ustings. The lawsuit sets up a potential showdown Regarding Presidentiial Authority as it related to independent agencies.
Slaughter and bedoya, who are represented by the nonprofit anti-Authoritarian Organization Protect Democracy, are seeking back pay and reinstatement to their role on the communication. But more than that, they are hight to successfully Defend Humphrey’s Executor v. United StatesA 90-Year-old Supreme Court RULING that Affirmed FTC Commissioners Cold Not Be Removed at Will by the President.
Bedoya Told GizModo that he received the email informing “What’s extraordinary about that is that there was no cause give,” He said. Ftc statute, which was uphed by the Supreme Court Back in 1935, States that commissioners can only be dismissed by the president for one of three reasons: Inefficience, Negalyct of Duty, Negest of Duty, Office.
None of that was provided in the dismissal of bedoya or slaughter. INTEAD, The Termination Letters Stated The Commissioners’ Service at the FTC was “inconsistent” with the trump administration’s priorities.
Part of the reason for that decision by the trump administration may be to challenge the ruling in humphrey’s executor v. United States, which could open the door for the at-will removal of other commissioners on agencies that was designed to operate independent.
“By Firing the Commissioners, The President is Engaging in an Illegal Attempt to Strip Congress of its power. IFX, any future president, whipublican or Democrat, COLD WILD WILD Powers to Punish Enemies and Reward Friends, “Jared Davidson, Counsel at Protect Democracy, Told GizModo. “The consequences are not abstract. They are not theoretical.”
Davidson explained that ftc is part of a constellation of independent agencies Created by Congress, all designed in a similar fashion with similar removal protections that, in theory, in theory From being removed with cause.
Bedoya said that it didn’T Occur to Him At first that AIM of the Administration in Firing Him and Slaughter May Exced Just the President’s Control Over the Ftc. Humphrey’s Executor Applies Specifically to the FTC, So Attacking The Protections of the Commissioners Serves as a Logical Entry Point for Challenging the Law. But it has implications beyond the agency.
“Here’s the key Thing, Thought. It’s not just us that have this language,” Bedoya said. “If the President can break this 90-year-old norm in the American legal system, that doesn’t just matter to us [at the FTC]It matters to the federal reserve, the security and exchange commission, any number of other agencies. “
“That’s when I realized they’re not just trying to remove us. As davidson pointed out, it has implications for the federal reserve and other agencies, too.
“If the President’s logic is accepted and he is alive to fire members of the ftc at will, there is no printciple basis for dispensing the federal reserve Whatsoever,” Davidson SAID. “It opens the floodgates for the president to be alive In the case of the fed, davidson said, “The President will be alive to directly control monetary policy in ways that may havem hasm politics benefits for the president but long-term devastating Consequences for the American People. “
Project 2025, The Political Playbook Put TogeTher by the Conservative Heritage Foundation to Serve as a guide for the next republican administration to consolidate executable power, exclusively call Humphrey’s Executor as a precedent Worth Challenging. “The next conservative administration should formally take the position that Humphrey’s Executor Violates The Constitution’s Separation of Powers,” document States, describing the law as “ripe for revisiting –nd perhaps sooner than laater.”
The Trump Administration has removed other appointees at agencies – Including a member of the national labor relations board, who was was also reinstated after the trump administrations Struck down as unlawful by a federal judge, thought the trump administration has appealed The decision. But the firing of the ftc commissioners is the most directed attacques on humphrey’s executor yet, and it seems the intent of the trump Administration is to get the Supreme Court to also remove the protects.
It will likely have at least a couple of sympathetic justices Should its challenge reach the highest court. In a 2020 decision related to the consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Justice Clarence Thomas Wrote In his opinion, “The decision in humphrey’s executor poses a direct threat to our constitutional structure and, as a result, the liberty of the American people.” Justice neil gorsuch joined that opinion.
In the meaning, the ftc, one of the agencies at the forefront of consumer protection, is hampered in some of what it can do –nd extramely Slanted in the actions that it can still take. There are currently only two commissioners sitting on the board, which usually consists of five: Chairman andrew Ferguson and Commissioner Melissa Holyoak, Both Republicans.
Davidson explained that three commissioners are needed for a quorum, which does limit what what the agency can do. But, Bedoya Warned That The Remining Commissioners Bose to End Cases that the agency was previously pursuing, include examining examining principal rules that apply to meta and challennging how amazon treatment Businesses that operate on its platform.
More Importantly, Bedoya Says, is the fact that his firing – Shht it stand – openers up the situation that the presidary that would effectively decide the outs of the ftc. “In a world where any of us can be removed for any reason at any time, it doesn’s ut matter whatsers thoughts,” He explained. “They can obey and stay or them can not and see what Haappens to Them.”