Twenty-five consumer protection groups are urging lawmakers to launch a probe into the recent firings of two Democratic Federal Trade Commission members and to block the confirmation of President Donald Trump’s FTC nominee until the fired commissioners get their jobs back.
“We urge you to investigate these unlawful attempted firings and act swiftly to restore the FTC’s independence, using all tools available to Congress,” reads the letter, which was shared with NOTUS ahead of being sent to lawmakers on Friday.
The letter, addressed to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, was in response to Trump firing FTC commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter on Tuesday. The fired commissioners were the sole Democratic members of the five-member independent board.
Advocacy groups and Democratic lawmakers have alleged that Trump’s removal of Bedoya and Slaughterwas illegal, setting up the president for another court battle.
The letter came from consumer advocacy groups like the National Consumer Law Center, National Consumers League, Public Citizen and the Consumer Federation of America.
The groups said Trump overstepped when he removed Bedoya and Slaughter. Their letter asked lawmakers to block Trump’s FTC nominee, Mark Meador, until the fired commissioners “have full and permanent access to their Senate-confirmed roles.”
“Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court have been clear that the president has no authority to fire FTC commissioners except in cases of inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. Policy disagreements or association with a political party that is not the president’s own certainly do not meet that bar,” the groups wrote.
Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, a 1935 Supreme Court ruling, established that the White House does not have the authority to directly control independent bipartisan agencies.
However, the White House has argued that the FTC is part of the executive branch and Trump has the authority to remove appointees.
“President Trump has the lawful authority to manage personnel within the executive branch. President Trump will continue to rid the federal government of bad actors unaligned with his common sense agenda the American people decisively voted for,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told NOTUS in a statement.
Trump has also attempted to extend his executive power over independent agencies through an executive order issued last month. Independent agencies, the order says, frequently take decisions without presidential review; with this order, Trump is attempting to exert control over agencies’ policy and staff.
Lawmaker responses to the firings have mostly been along party lines. Sen. Ted Cruz, chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, told NOTUS in a statement that the Supreme Court’s 1935 ruling is flawed and has encouraged independent agencies to “act as if they answer to no one.”
“The heads of these agencies, like all members of the executive branch, must answer to the President, in whom ‘the executive power shall be vested,’” Cruz added. “President Trump is right to challenge this precedent and return power to the people.”
Rep. Frank Pallone, a Democrat who serves as ranking member on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, has asked the courts to reverse Trump’s actions.
“Trump’s attempt to fire the Democratic FTC Commissioners is illegal and must be immediately reversed by the courts,” Pallone posted on X. “If this is not reversed, he will purge all independent agencies in his bid to consolidate power in the White House.”
Bedoya and Slaughter were the only remaining Democratic-appointed commissioners after former FTC Chair Lina Khan left her position earlier this year. Currently, the independent agency is only staffed with two Republican appointees.
Trump nominee Meador — who has previously worked in Sen. Mike Lee’s office and has also litigated against Google as an antitrust lawyer — would consolidate a Republican majority at the agency. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation recommended Meador’s nomination on March 12th. His nomination is still pending to a full floor vote.
If a court does not reverse the firings, it could mark a major change in how the FTC functions moving forward.
The consumer protection groups’ letter said that ending FTC independence would make consumers more vulnerable to abuse from tech corporations.
“Without an independent FTC, corporations would face fewer barriers to exploiting individuals through practices like intrusive data collection and AI-driven manipulation,” the letter reads.
The fired commissioners criticized their removal as financially and politically motivated, arguing that Trump wants to rule over the agency’s independence to serve Big Tech interests.
“Our staff is unafraid of the Martin Shkrelis and Jeff Bezos of the world. They take them to court and they win,” Bedoya wrote in a statement posted on X. “Now, the president wants the FTC to be a lapdog for his golfing buddies.”
Correction: This article has been corrected to reflect that the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation voted on Meador’s nomination earlier this month.
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Samuel Larreal is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.