Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya’s lawsuit seeks back pay and reinstatement under the Supreme Court’s 90-year-old precedent that has enabled for-cause removal protections for independent agency leaders.
“Plaintiffs will not and do not accept this unlawful action: Plaintiffs bring this action to vindicate their right to serve the remainder of their respective terms, defend the integrity of the Commission, and to continue their work for the American people,” the complaint reads.
Like Trump’s other firings of independent agency leaders, the administration did not claim to have cause for firing the two FTC commissioners.
In the termination letters, an administration official told the commissioners their continued service at the FTC was “inconsistent” with the administration’s policies but did not specify further.
The FTC is tasked with enforcing antitrust law and consumer protection, separate from the direction of the White House.
The government contends the agency leaders’ removal protections are unconstitutional, a position that could prompt the Supreme Court to revisit its 1935 precedent allowing such protections, Humphrey’s Executor v. United States.
Several of the court’s conservatives have expressed skepticism about the precedent, and more broadly have issued rulings in recent years clawing back the so-called “administrative state.”
The White House continued to defend its decision in response to the suit filing Thursday.
“The Trump Administration operated within its lawful authority when it determined that the service of the former FTC commissioners was inconsistent with the Administration’s priorities,” White House press assistant Taylor Rogers told The Hill in a statement.
“The President will continue to implement his common sense agenda, which the American people decisively voted for,” Rogers added.
Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.
