Washington, D.C.— In response to the illegal firing of two sitting Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioners by President Trump, Shatorah Roberson, senior policy counsel at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, released the following statement:
“The firing of FTC Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter is yet another example of the Trump administration’s disregard for the rule of law in its pursuit of unchecked executive control at the cost of the American people. The removal of commissioners on the basis that their actions were “inconsistent with [the] administration’s priorities” is not only unprecedented but brazenly illegal.
The FTC acts as the primary regulator of tech companies, tackling monopolies, privacy violations, and deceptive AI use. These illegal firings are a clear attempt to protect tech companies and other corporations from any accountability for such abuses, which will disproportionately harm Black people and other people of color.
The Supreme Court addressed the precise question of whether a President can dismiss an FTC Commissioner nearly 90 years ago in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, ruling that to preserve the Commission’s independence, the President does not have unrestricted authority to remove commissioners without cause.
By dismissing these officials, the Trump administration has made clear its intention to eliminate regulators who act independently from partisan concerns.
In the early 20th century, monopolistic and deceptive business practices led to extreme wealth concentration and exploitative labor conditions, threatening the foundation of the free market. The passage of the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 was a direct response to these abuses.
The FTC was established by Congress as an independent, bipartisan body to prevent predatory and unfair business practices, protect consumers, and promote fair competition. Black people and other communities of color particularly rely on the protections it provides. The FTC is designed to safeguard everyday Americans by cracking down on deceptive and unfair business practices, such as hidden hotel and airline fees, identity theft schemes, data privacy abuses, and false AI claims. Now more than ever, we need the FTC’s oversight of Big Tech companies that have achieved success through unchecked market disruption and unprecedented access to consumer data. This administration’s actions signal a clear departure from consumer protection, prioritizing the interests of billionaires and corporate elites over the well-being of the American people.
This administration isn’t just chipping away at regulatory independence—it’s bulldozing it to make way for corporate greed at the expense of our civil rights. The realities of a politically motivated FTC are grim. Predatory business practices, rampant data privacy abuses, and market throttling are just a few of the possibilities that Black communities and communities of color will experience without FTC independence.”
