By Jody Godoy
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The two Democratic commissioners at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said they were illegally fired by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, in another major test of the independence of regulatory agencies.
A White House official confirmed the firing but did not have further comment.
“This is corruption plain and simple,” former Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya said of his firing from the consumer protection agency in a statement on X.
His former colleague, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, said in a statement: “The President illegally fired me from my position as a Federal Trade Commissioner, violating the plain language of a statute and clear Supreme Court precedent.”
Trump has already sparked lawsuits by firing members of other independent agencies including the National Labor Relations Board.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1935 to uphold a law that allows FTC commissioners to be fired only for good cause, such as neglecting their duties. The ruling shields a number of independent, bipartisan multi-member agencies from direct control by the White House.
But there were hints beyond the firings at the NLRB that more action was likely. Trump issued an executive order on February 18 giving the White House greater control over independent agencies, which experts viewed as testing the limits of presidential power.
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson and Republican Commissioner Melissa Holyoak, the other Republican on the Commission, have said they support the Trump administration’s legal position that the White House has the power to fire agency officials.
(Reporting by Jody Godoy; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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