Appeals Court Rejects Trump’s Attempt to Fire FTC Commissioner

In a major setback to President Donald Trump’s attempt to purge independent agencies, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to block a lower court order reinstating Democratic commissioner Rebecca Slaughter to the Federal Trade Commission.

The panel denied the government’s request to suspend Slaughter’s return to office while the case continues.

“The government has no likelihood of success on appeal given controlling and directly on point Supreme Court precedent,” the court wrote. “To grant a stay would be to defy the Supreme Court’s decisions that bind our judgments. That we will not do.”

The case cited, Humphrey’s Executor v. United States (1935), established that presidents cannot fire FTC commissioners at will. 

The court said the case still applies today. 

Trump removed Slaughter and fellow Democrat Alvaro Bedoya in March, sparking immediate lawsuits. 

In July, U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan, appointed by former President Joe Biden, ruled Trump’s firing of Slaughter “illegal and without effect”, reinstating her through the end of her Senate-confirmed term in 2029. 

AliKhan stressed that Humphrey’s Executor remains settled law, writing that courts must follow “clearly established law that has been enacted by a coequal branch of government, reaffirmed by another coequal branch, and acquiesced to by thirteen executives over the course of ninety years.”

The D.C. Circuit temporarily stayed that order in late July. But with Tuesday’s  ruling, Slaughter can return to her seat at the FTC.

Judge Neomi Rao, appointed by Trump, dissented and argued the court should have followed the Supreme Court’s recent emergency stays in other removal cases.

The Supreme Court has recently sided with Trump in similar battles over firing independent officials.

In May, the justices allowed him to remove board members of the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board while legal challenges played out. Later that reach extended to three commissioners at the Consumer Product Safety Commission. 

Last week, Trump attempted to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, citing disputed allegations about her mortgage paperwork. The Supreme Court explicitly excluded the Federal Reserve from its earlier rulings this year. 

Cook has sued, arguing the removal threatens the central bank’s independence. The case remains ongoing.