What’s at Stake in Trump’s F.T.C. Purge

The Federal Trade Commission is the latest target of President Trump, who is seeking to gain more direct control over government agencies.Credit…Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press

“Inconsistent with my administration’s priorities”

Business leaders and deal makers have already been grappling with a whirlwind of chaos from the Trump administration across various fronts, which they have said has disrupted key decisions.

But in many ways, President Trump’s firing of the Federal Trade Commission’s two Democratic commissioners is a major shock to the system, another challenge to the status quo — and Supreme Court precedent — that is stoking uncertainty for corporate America.

“Your continued service on the F.T.C. is inconsistent with my administration’s priorities,” a White House official wrote to the two Democratic commissioners, Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya. Their firing leaves just two Republican commissioners at the agency, which is charged with overseeing consumer protection and antitrust laws and normally has five commissioners, three belonging to the president’s party. A third Republican, Mark Meador, is still awaiting Senate confirmation.

The White House official justified the decision by essentially saying that the Supreme Court’s decision in the 1935 case known as Humphrey’s Executor, which held that F.T.C. commissioners can’t be fired over policy disagreements, doesn’t apply here. The F.T.C.’s chair, Andrew Ferguson, said he had “no doubts” about the constitutionality of the move.

Slaughter and Bedoya plan to fight the decision in court.

Their firings raise questions about how the agency operates. While it can continue working with just two commissioners, it was designed to be bipartisan. Several legal experts say that while minority commissioners don’t necessarily have decision-making power, their opinions can help shape judges’ rulings on cases involving the F.T.C.

Ferguson himself recently spoke in favor of having minority commissioners: “I wrote 400-plus pages of dissents during my time as a minority commissioner,” he told Bloomberg’s “Odd Lots” podcast. “I think that that adds value.”