Trump fires Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission for being 'inconsistent with my administration's priorities'

President Donald Trump decided to fire the two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), thus breaking with the traditional independent nature of the agency, which is in charge of enforcing consumer protection and antitrust laws.

According to the White House, Democratic members Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya were fired Tuesday because the Trump administration's priorities did not align with Slaughter's and Bedoya's ideas.

"I am writing to inform you that you have been removed from the Federal Trade Commission, effective immediately," said a letter sent to one of the commissioners and reviewed by several media outlets, including The New York Times. "Your continued service on the F.T.C. is inconsistent with my administration’s priorities."

The decision, which is again generating criticism from Trump opponents, will likely be challenged in court by Slaughter and Bedoya, who rejected the president's decision.

"Today the president illegally fired me from my position as a federal trade commissioner, violating the plain language of a statute and clear Supreme Court precedent," Slaughter said,  who was Trump's own nominee to the FTC in his first term in 2018. "Why? Because I have a voice. And he is afraid of what I’ll tell the American people."

For his part, Bedoya, who took over as commissioner three years ago, said an FTC without independence from the president could be exposed to the interests of Trump's business allies.

“When people hear this news, they need to not think about me,” he said. “They need to think about the billionaires behind the president at his inauguration.”

The move comes after the president signed an executive order that sought to increase White House control over independent agencies such as the FTC, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

For several decades now, the FTC has had five members, with three seats going to the president's party and two to the opposition.

The president's firings not only break with this tradition but could also go against a 1935 Supreme Court precedent, which states that the president cannot fire FTC members solely for political disagreements, a position both Slaughter and Bedoya denounced.

However, the Trump administration believes these traditional protections do not break with the president's broad authority over regulators.

Through a statement on X, Republican FTC chairman, Andrew Ferguson, reacted Tuesday to the firing by asserting that the agency will continue to fulfill its mission to protect consumers and backed Trump's authority to remove his once-colleagues.

"President Donald J. Trump is the head of the executive branch and is vested with all of the executive power of our government," Ferguson said. "I have no doubts about his constitutional authority to remove commissioners, which is necessary to ensure democratic accountability for our government."