Fired Democratic FTC commissioners sue Trump

is a senior editor following news across tech, culture, policy, and entertainment. He joined The Verge in 2021 after several years covering news at Engadget. The two Democratic Federal Trade Commission members illegally fired by Donald Trump have filed a lawsuit against the president and newly appointed Republican FTC chair Andrew Ferguson, as well as fellow commissioner Melissa Holyoak and executive director David Robbins. Commissioners Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya write that, “Last week, President Donald Trump purported to fire them, in direct violation of a century of federal law and Supreme Court precedent.” The precedent referred to is a 1935 Supreme Court case about the limits of presidential power in firing FTC commissioners, Humphrey’s Executor v. US, which Ferguson has said is wrong. Under that existing ruling, however, commissioners cannot be removed without cause — something Trump does not appear to have provided in this case. Bedoya and Slaughter revealed on March 1 ... Read full article.