Republican States: Federal Court Should Uphold Trump’s FTC Firings
The president has “absolute authority” to remove FTC commissioners, Republican attorneys general from 21 states said in an amicus brief filed Monday with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (see 2504240027).
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Florida AG James Uthmeier (R) led the filing, which was also signed by states including Alabama, Montana, Arkansas, Utah, Louisiana and Missouri. “Without the power to remove, the President lacks the ability to compel compliance with his directives and thus to fulfill his oath to execute the law” under the Constitution, they wrote.
Firing protections the U.S. Supreme Court established in Humphrey’s Executor have eroded over time, most recently with cases like Seila Law, which further narrowed the scope of those protections, the AGs said: “Because of the substantial change in the nature of the duties and authorities of the FTC since the Humphrey’s Executor decision in 1935, the FTC Commissioners are not entitled to the tenure protections.”