Firing FTC Commissioners

Description: On March 18, President Trump unlawfully fired two members of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, before their terms would have expired. The FTC is an independent federal agency, meaning that while Commissioners are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, the actions of the Commission are intended to be shielded from presidential interference. With the removal of Commissioners Bedoya and Slaughter, the FTC only has two sitting Commissioners, which may deny the agency the quorum it needs to perform all of its duties.

The FTC’s mission is to prevent corporations and other entities from engaging in unfair competition and unfair business practices that harm the public. The FTC enforces laws and regulations prohibiting illegal monopolistic practices, where companies may try to become too large and dominate too much of the market, including by reviewing mergers and acquisitions. The FTC also focuses on antitrust activities, in which businesses may engage in illegal anticompetitive actions, like price fixing. The FTC also has stepped in to protect consumers from corporate practices like deceptive fines and fees, scams and elder fraud, data privacy violations, deceptive advertising, and more.

While the FTC does not have a mission directly related to workers’ rights or labor standards, the FTC has also taken actions on issues directly affecting workers’ rights and pay. During the Biden administration, the FTC passed a rule that would have banned noncompete clauses as conditions of employment, which prevent workers from going to work for competing employers or starting their own business ventures in the same fields. While the rule was invalidated by a federal judge, the FTC was in the process of appealing that decision. On March 12, the Trump administration paused the FTC’s defense of the ban in court, possibly signaling their intent to step away from defending the rule.

https://www.epi.org/policywatch/firing-ftc-commissioners/