Product safety commission members sue Trump administration over terminations
May 21 (Reuters) - Three Democratic members of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission sued the Trump administration on Wednesday, alleging their terminations were unlawful.
Commissioners Mary Boyle, Alexander Hoehn-Saric and Richard Trumka Jr filed their lawsuit in the federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland. Each was appointed by former President Joe Biden to the five-member commission.
They said in their lawsuit, opens new tab that the Republican Trump administration illegally terminated them without cause and with no explanation. They alleged the terminations violated restrictions on the president's power to remove members of independent agencies such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
Commissioners can be removed by the president only for neglect of duty or malfeasance, the lawsuit said.
'Safety shouldn't be partisan,' Boyle said in a statement. 'The CPSC needs independent leadership that is not beholden to anyone, whether it is corporate interests or the administration.'
The White House and Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The safety commission, founded in 1972, is a regulatory and enforcement agency tasked by Congress with shielding consumers from injury or death from defective or harmful products.
The commissioners' lawsuit said a judge should declare the removals unlawful and immediately allow the three members to return to their posts. Boyle's term was due to expire in October, Hoehn-Saric's in 2027 and Trumka's in 2028.
President Donald Trump has faced a number of lawsuits over his efforts to remove members of other agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission, National Labor Relations Board, Equal Opportunity Employment Commission and Merit Systems Protection Board.
In April, the U.S. Supreme Court said Trump for now could remove Democratic members of the NLRB and MSPB, putting on hold lower court rulings that had protected them from dismissal.
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