• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, March 27, 2025

Ousted Federal Trade Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter on Thursday asked a federal court to order their reinstatement to the agency.

Both commissioners were expelled from office last week by President Donald Trump, despite Supreme Court precedent holding that the president can only fire an FTC commissioner for three reasons -- inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.

“Plaintiffs will not and do not accept this unlawful action: Plaintiffs bring this action to vindicate their right to serve the remainder of their respective terms, to defend the integrity of the Commission, and to continue their work for the American people,” they allege in a complaint brought in Washington, D.C. federal court.

Bedoya and Slaughter say they were notified on March 18 via email that they had been “removed” from the agency, effective immediately.

That message included the following statement by Trump: “Your continued service on the FTC is inconsistent with my Administration’s priorities. Accordingly, I am removing you from office pursuant to my authority under Article II of the Constitution.”

Soon after receiving the message, they were “cut off from their FTC email addresses and asked to return their technology equipment,” according to the complaint.

“They have been denied access to their offices, their staff have all been placed on administrative leave, and they are now listed as 'Former Commissioners' on the FTC website,” the complaint says.

The pair is seeking a declaratory judgment that the ouster is unlawful, and an injunction that would enable them to resume their roles on the commission.

They note in the complaint that Congress established the FTC as a five-member commission, with each member appointed for a term of seven years and removable only for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”

Bedoya was confirmed by the Senate in 2022 and his term wasn't set to expire until September 25, 2026. Slaughter joined the FTC in 2018, and was confirmed for a second time in March 2024. Her term wasn't slated to expire until September 2029.

Bedoya and Slaughter add that the Supreme Court was confronted with a near-identical situation in 1935, when former President Franklin Roosevelt also purported to fire an FTC commissioner on the grounds that his “continued service on the FTC” was inconsistent with the administration's priorities.

The court unanimously ruled that Roosevelt could not fire the commissioner for that reason.