One of the two Democratic commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission whom President Donald Trump abruptly fired Tuesday warned that her ouster could erode market stability.
“This isn’t just about the FTC, and it’s not about my job,” former commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”
“This is about policing the ability of the FTC to police markets and ensure honest businesses are protected, instead of allowing companies that lie and cheat to get ahead,” she said.
“And it’s not just about the FTC, it’s about all of the structures of government that protect market stability,” she said. “So, the markets that depend on the stability provided by government institutions should be very concerned.”
Slaughter’s comments came amid a period of heavy stock market turbulence, as investors grapple with uncertainty surrounding Trump’s policy decisions.
She also spoke shortly before the Federal Reserve announces its latest decision on interest rates.
“If I can be fired, I don’t know why Jerome Powell can’t be fired,” Slaughter said, referring to the Fed chairman.
Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya, the only other Democratic FTC commissioner, were fired by Trump on Tuesday. The ousters left just two Republican commissioners at the agency, which is tasked with enforcing antitrust and consumer-protection laws.
The Democrats both argued that Trump’s move violated a federal law stating that commissioners can only be removed for cause, such as neglect or malfeasance in office.
Slaughter noted on CNBC that the Supreme Court upheld that law in 1935, setting a precedent that “has not been violated for 90 years.”
But Andrew Ferguson, Trump’s Republican pick to replace Lina Khan as FTC chair, said the president acted within his power.
“I have no doubts about his constitutional authority to remove Commissioners, which is necessary to ensure democratic accountability for our government,” Ferguson said in a statement Tuesday.
When asked why Trump chose to fire the Democratic commissioners at this time, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “Because the time was right to let these people go, and the President absolutely has the authority to do it.”
“They were given ample notice in a letter that I believe your outlet reported on,” Leavitt said. Asked if the administration’s goal is to overturn the 1935 precedent, Leavitt replied, “The goal was to let these individuals go. If we have to fight it all the way to the Supreme Court, we certainly will.”
The two removed commissioners nevertheless called Trump’s move “illegal.”
“This is corruption plain and simple,” Bedoya wrote on X, accusing Trump of seeking to turn the FTC into “a lapdog for his golfing buddies.”
Since taking office, Trump has worked to overhaul the government by pushing out independent agency heads and drastically downsizing agencies through the DOGE initiative overseen by Elon Musk.
On Feb. 18, Trump signed an executive order to give himself more power over independent regulatory agencies.
Four days earlier, Axios reported that Ferguson backed the view that presidents can fire independent agency heads at will.
Federal judges ruled in early March that Trump wrongly tried to remove two federal board members. The Trump administration is appealing those rulings.
Slaughter warned Wednesday that her “unprecedented” firing throws doubt and confusion on multiple active FTC lawsuits.
“The commission is in active litigation against all of the companies, pretty much, whose CEOs flanked the president at his inauguration,” she said.
