Fired FTC commissioners sue Trump administration over ‘indefensible’ terminations

Two Democratic commissioners fired by Donald Trump from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit on Thursday to challenge their “indefensible” terminations.

Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya, whose controversial firings were announced last week, are suing the Trump administration for “unlawfully” removing them from their positions.

“The President’s action is indefensible under governing law,” the complaint, obtained by the Guardian, states. The firings should be legally declared “unlawful and ineffective”, it argues, adding that the court should formally instruct the FTC’s leadership to allow Slaughter and Bedoya to serve out the remainder of their terms.

Under the FTC Act, a commissioner can only be removed by the president for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office. The act also says that no more than three of the FTC’s five commissioners can be of the same political party. After the terminations, the FTC currently holds a 3–0 Republican majority.

“The president’s attempt to terminate commissioners Bedoya and Slaughter is contrary to federal law and nearly a century of supreme court precedent,” said Amit Agarwal, special counsel for Protect Democracy, which is representing Slaughter and Bedoya in the lawsuit. “This isn’t about Democrats versus Republicans or liberals versus conservatives – it’s about an economy governed by laws rather than political whims.”

Slaughter and Bedoya were informed of their terminations on 18 March in an email message from Trent Morse, deputy director of presidential personnel, according to the complaint. It included a message from the president: “I am writing to inform you that you have been removed from the Federal Trade Commission, effective immediately.”

The lawsuit alleges that the message from Trump failed to identify any “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office” to support the firings, as the FTC Act would require.

Instead, the message stated that the commissioners’ “continued service on the FTC is inconsistent with my administration’s priorities. Accordingly, I am removing you from office pursuant to my authority under Article II of the constitution.”

Additionally, the lawsuit accuses Trump of violating the first amendment of the US constitution. “By purporting to remove Plaintiffs from their positions without cause … President Trump deprived plaintiffs of their property interests without affording them due process of law, thereby violating the fifth amendment,” it states.

Both commissioners have been vocally critical of Trump’s decision to fire them, with many legal experts agreeing with the illegality of the move. Bedoya has called it an “interesting coincidence” that he was dismissed after publicly criticizing Jeff Bezos, the billionaire Amazon founder, citing the cases he has brought forward against the e-commerce giant, and his concern about the growing influence of billionaires in government.

Slaughter was nominated to be commissioner in 2018 during Trump’s first presidency. She was renominated and confirmed again in 2024, under then president Joe Biden. Bedoya was nominated by Biden and confirmed as commissioner in 2022.