Editing Federal Trade Commission (section)

====March 2025 attempted firings====
On March 18, 2025, President Trump ordered the dismissal of Democratic Commissioners [[Alvaro Bedoya]] and [[Rebecca Kelly Slaughter]].<ref name="Trump fires Democratic Commissioners">{{cite news |last1=Godoy |first1=Jody |title=Trump fires both Democratic commissioners at FTC |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-fires-both-democratic-commissioners-ftc-sources-say-2025-03-18/ |access-date=18 March 2025 |work=Reuters |publisher=Reuters}}</ref><ref name="wapo-firings">https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/03/18/two-democratic-commissioners-fired-ftc/</ref> Presidents do not have statutory authority to fire FTC commissioners for reasons other than inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance, none of which were cited in Trump's orders; these restrictions were upheld by the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] in ''[[Humphrey's Executor v. United States]]''.<ref name="humphreys-executor" />

Bedoya and Slaughter both stated the attempted firings were unlawful. Bedoya described it as "corruption plain and simple," while Slaughter stated it "violat[ed] the plain language of a statute and clear Supreme Court precedent." <ref>{{cite web|last=Hurley|first=Lawrence|date=April 22, 2021|title=U.S. Supreme Court curbs FTC's power to recoup ill-gotten gains|url=https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/us-supreme-court-curbs-ftcs-power-recoup-ill-gotten-gains-2021-04-22/|publisher=[[Reuters]]|access-date=April 22, 2021}}</ref> While both Bedoya and Slaughter maintain they remain commissioners, their names have been removed from the FTC website and they do not currently have access to FTC resources.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://prospect.org/justice/2025-03-21-case-without-a-judge-ftc/ | title=The Case Without a Judge | date=March 21, 2025 }}</ref>

Republicans, including FTC chair [[Andrew N. Ferguson]], have argued that Humphrey's Executor was wrongly decided.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.axios.com/2025/02/14/ftc-chair-ferguson-trump-fire-commissioners | title=Scoop: New FTC chair endorses Trump's ability to fire commissioners of independent agencies | date=February 14, 2025 }}</ref> Legal analysts expect the firings of Bedoya and Slaughter, along with the attempted firing of Democratic NLRB member [[Gwynne Wilcox]], to serve as a [[Test case (law)|test case]] that will enable the Supreme Court to overrule Humphrey's Executor and grant the President unlimited authority to fire commissioners of independent agencies such as the FTC, NLRB, and the Federal Reserve.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.retailconsumerproductslaw.com/2025/03/taking-aim-at-humphreys-executor-trump-fires-the-ftcs-democratic-commissioners/ | title=Taking aim at Humphrey's Executor: Trump Fires the FTC's Democratic Commissioners | date=March 19, 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-and-the-fed-are-getting-along-but-now-there-are-new-fears-about-firings-0024f7b9 | title=There are new fears about Fed firings after FTC dismissals | date=March 19, 2025 }}</ref>