The Many Policy Ramifications of the Bedoya-Slaughter FTC Lawsuit
By Paul Steidler: Two former Democrat members of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, filed a federal lawsuit on March 27 seeking to overturn their March 18 firings by President Trump.
The lawsuit was not a surprise. President Trump likely knew it would happen before he terminated the two Yale Law School graduates who functioned as prominent law enforcement agents at the FTC. In fact, President Trump likely welcomes the lawsuit as he believes the courts will rule that the President has the authority to remove commissioners from executive branch agencies for any reason, consistent with Article II of the U.S. Constitution.
Former commissioners Bedoya and Slaughter raise interesting points in their U.S. District Court filing. This includes referencing the Sinking Fund Commission, which was proposed by Alexander Hamilton, passed by the First Congress, and signed into law by President George Washington. According to the underlying statute, the President had limited authority to fire the commissioners.
Important real-world issues are in play. The FTC is currently comprised of two Republicans and no Democrats. That still represents a quorum at the FTC for voting on decisions that must be made by the Commission, such as whether to sue companies.
Bedoya and Slaughter, though, are seeking an injunction that would reinstate them. Complex legal issues might also arise if the current commission votes 2-0 on a matter, Bedoya and Slaughter indicate they would have voted differently, and the court rules down the road that Bedoya and Slaughter should be reinstated, i.e., the injunction is not immediately granted.
President Trump has also nominated Mark Meador to serve as a Commissioner at the FTC. He, too, is a Republican and formerly worked for Senator Mike Lee (R-UT). On March 12, the Senate Commerce Committee voted 20-8 to approve Meador’s nomination, which had long been expected to sail smoothly through the Senate. Now, Democrats could pull out all the procedural stops to prevent his confirmation as a form of retaliation for the firings.
One thing is clear: this high-stakes, intense legal fight has just begun, and it will be important to watch and study.