MARCH 18, 2025
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House on March 13, 2025. – Andrew Harnik/Getty
Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, one of two Democratic commissioners from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fired by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, said the president is “afraid of what I will tell the American people.”
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Since his return to office in January, Trump has tested his executive authority by firing Democratic members of independent boards such as the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The firings of the two Democrats serving on the FTC may lead to new legal challenges.
What To Know
Along with Slaughter, Trump also fired Democrat Alvaro Bedoya. The move marks another significant challenge to the independence of regulatory agencies.
In a statement, Slaughter wrote that she was “illegally” fired and that the firing violated “the plain language of a statute and clear Supreme Court Precedent.”
“Why? Because I have a voice. And he is afraid of what I will tell the American people,” she wrote. She called the firing a question of “accountability.”
“The administration clearly fears the accountability that opposition voices would provide if the President orders Chairman Ferguson to treat the most powerful corporations and their executives—like those that lanked the President at his inauguration—with kid gloves,” she wrote.
In a statement posted to X (formerly Twitter), Bedoya wrote that Trump “wants the FTC to be a lapdog for his golfing buddies.”
“Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat or someone who’s so disgusted with Washington you can barely watch the news, the FTC has worked for you,” he wrote. “Who will Trump’s FTC work for? Will it work for the billionaires? Or will it work for you?”
In 1935, the Supreme Court upheld the independence of these agencies, requiring good cause for any firings. Trump’s firings of NLRB members have already sparked lawsuits accusing him of violating that ruling.
What People Are Saying
CNBC Washington Correspondent Eamon Javers, on X: “Sudden, surprising move by President Trump at the FTC. Can’t remember a situation like this before. Going to be a *very* big legal fight. And if Trump is moving to purge Democratic appointees take over the FTC, it begs the question: to what end?”
Zephyr Teachout, a professor at Fordham Law School and former New York Democratic gubernatorial candidate, on X: “Donald Trump just illegally fired two independent commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission, Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya and Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter. This FTC has been among the most bipartisan active agencies since January. This is a full-on effort to enable fraud.”
What Happens Next
Bedoya indicated he could bring a lawsuit against Trump, writing on X that he would “see the president in court.”
Courtesy/Source: Newsweek
