A federal judge for the U.S. District Court of D.C. ruled that President Donald Trump’s firing of Rebecca Slaughter was illegal.
“Because the law on the removal of FTC Commissioners is clear, and for the reasons explained below, the court will grant Ms. Slaughter’s motion for summary judgment and deny Defendants’ cross-motion for summary judgment,” wrote Judge Loren Alikhan.
Slaughter and Bedoya filed the lawsuit after Trump alerted them of their removal on March 18.
Bedoya formally resigned his post in June. However, he joined the lawsuit as he “continue[s] to seek any and all relief appropriate in light of [his] new circumstances, including a declaratory ruling from this [c]ourt recognizing that the President’s ‘purported termination’ without cause . . . was ‘unlawful.’”
Alikhan dismissed Bedoya’s claims because he did not “maintain [his] personal interest in the dispute at all stages of litigation.”
Alikhan used Humphrey’s Executor v. United States as her basis for her ruling.
The Supreme Court ruled that the FTC Act is constitutional and does not infringe upon the executive power of the President.
Section 1 of the FTC Act states that a president can only remove a commissioner for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”
Trump told Bedoya and Slaughter, “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.”
The Supreme Court has not strayed from the precedent given in the Humphrey case even though SCOTUS has raised questions about the decision.
However, I doubt SCOTUS (because you know this will end up there) will side with Trump on this issue due to the long precedent.
“It is not the role of this court to decide the correctness, prudence, or wisdom of the Supreme Court’s decisions—even one from ninety years ago,” wrote Alikhan. “Whatever the Humphrey’s Executor Court may have thought at the time of that decision, this court will not second-guess it now.”
White House spokesperson Kush Desai said the Trump administration will appeal Alikhan’s decision.
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