A federal appeals court on Tuesday reinstated a Biden appointee to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) despite Trump’s previous attempt to fire her.
In March, President Trump fired both Democrat commissioners at the FTC.
“President Donald J. Trump is the head of the executive branch and is vested with all of the executive power in our government. I have no doubts about his constitutional authority to remove Commissioners, which is necessary to ensure democratic accountability for our government. The Federal Trade Commission will continue its tireless work to protect consumers, lower prices, and police anticompetitive behavior,” Andrew Ferguson, Chairman of the FTC, said in a statement.
“I wish Commissioners Slaughter and Bedoya well, and I thank them for their service,” he added.
— Andrew Ferguson (@AFergusonFTC) March 18, 2025
Shortly after the firing, they both sued to get their jobs back.
In July, a federal judge rehired the Democrat FTC Commissioner who was fired by President Trump earlier this year.
US District Judge Loren AliKhan, a Biden appointee, said President Trump’s firing of Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, the Democrat FTC Commissioner, was illegal.
The Trump Administration promptly appealed the order.
On Tuesday, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, citing the century-old Supreme Court decision Humphrey’s Executor, ruled that Rebecca Slaughter can remain at her job after Trump fired her.
The three-judge panel included: Majority: Millett (Obama), Pillard (Obama), Dissent: Rao (Trump).
“Humphrey’s Executor controls this case and binds this court,” the judges wrote.
“In Humphrey’s Executor, the Supreme Court unanimously held that the Federal Trade Commission Act does not violate Article II by limiting the President’s power to remove Commissioners except for cause,” the judges wrote.
Judge Rao (Trump) blasted the court’s decision to reinstate Rebecca Slaughter.
“This case presents a now-familiar set of facts. President Donald Trump fired a commissioner of a so-called independent agency without cause. The district court held that such removal was unlawful, ordered reinstatement of the officer, and entered a sweeping permanent injunction that, among other things, ordered everyone at the agency to treat the officer as if she were never removed by the President. In two virtually identical cases, the Supreme Court has stayed similar injunctions,” Judge Rao wrote in a dissent.
“To begin with, the injunction interferes with the President’s exclusive powers. The district court nominally ordered the remaining FTC Commissioners and their subordinates and agents not to remove Slaughter, but these officials have no power to remove her. By statute, only the President may remove an FTC commissioner. See 15 U.S.C.§ 41. The district court employs a toothless remedial fiction because it cannot enjoin removal by the President,” Judge Rao wrote.
“More to the point, by ordering the remaining FTC Commissioners and their subordinates to treat Slaughter as though she is still in office, the district court expressly orders them to disregard the President’s directive. Although the district court refrained from enjoining the President explicitly, the injunction attempts to countermand the President’s removal by ordering the remaining Commissioners to ignore and to act contrary to the President’s removal of Slaughter,” the judge said.
