Federal judge rules against Trump admin in FTC member firing case

A Washington, D.C.-based federal judge on Thursday ruled against the Trump administration over the firing of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) member Rebecca Slaughter.

Slaughter, who was appointed to the independent board in 2021, was axed along with fellow member Alvaro Bedoya in March. The pair represented the Democratic minority in the five-member commission. 

Following the firings, both Bedoya and Slaughter released public statements announcing their intention to file lawsuits, claiming their firings were without cause.

U.S. District Court Judge Loren Alikhan noted that when the FTC was created more than a century ago, it was designed to be an independent, multi-member body of experts committed to the regulation of economic competition.

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Alvaro Bedoya (L) and Rebecca Slaughter (R), commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission, were fired by the Trump Administration in March. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

To prevent political interference to its mission, Congress required that commissioners only be removed for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” 

“Because the law on the removal of FTC Commissioners is clear, and for the reasons explained below, the court will grant Ms. Slaughter’s motion for summary judgment and deny Defendants’ cross-motion for summary judgment,” Alikhan wrote in the ruling.

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A federal judge ruled in favor of a former Federal Trade Commission member fired by the Trump administration, allegedly “without cause,” in March. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Bedoya, who was appointed to the board by former President Joe Biden in 2022, also filed suit—but the case was dismissed without prejudice.

The U.S. Supreme Court has one remaining emergency application related to a Trump executive action, but it involves the removal of three members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

The federal judge ruled commissioners cannot be fired without cause, reinstating the Biden appointee. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

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Three CPSC members—Mary Boyle, Alexander Hoehn-Saric and Richard Trumka Jr.—filed suit against the Trump administration, challenging their removal from their statutorily protected roles.