Trump Again Asserts Right to Fire FTC Commissioners; Slaughter, Bedoya Object in Op-Ed
Lawyers for President Donald Trump doubled down on what they argued is his constitutional right to fire FTC commissioners. In a court document Wednesday, the president's lawyers presented reasons why the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia should summarily dismiss the case that fired FTC Commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya brought, challenging their March removal and seeking reinstatement.
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"Neither of the two narrow exceptions the Supreme Court has recognized to the President’s otherwise unrestricted removal power ... applies here," said Yaakov Roth, acting assistant attorney general. "FTC Commissioners must therefore be removable at will to ensure they, like the rest of the Executive Branch, are accountable to the people who elect the President."
However, Slaughter and Bedoya penned an op-ed in the Financial Times Thursday, calling their dismissal "a terrifying warning sign for the future of the American economy."
"For 90 years, businesses have known that the federal government will be both transparent and independent in applying the market regulation laws passed by Congress," they wrote. "We were both confirmed by the Senate for terms that have not concluded ... Our lawsuit -- which asks only that we be allowed to carry out those terms -- is not about our own economic philosophies. It’s not about liberals versus conservatives or laissez-faire versus regulation. It’s about whether the US is ruled by laws or political whims."
Austrian privacy activist and EU lawyer Max Schrems (see 2503250056), state attorneys and privacy lawyers (see 2503190046) worry the FTC firings will negatively impact the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.
In addition, some law professors (see 2504210018), Democratic AGs (see 2504180046) and congressional Democrats (see 2504150021) have asked for the reversal of these FTC firings. Slaughter and Bedoya filed their suit against Trump and asked to be reinstated on March 27 (see 2503270056).
However, Sen. Ted Cruz (R) supported the firings (see 2502200060).