Latest news with #RebeccaSlaughter
Reuters
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
US appeals court temporarily blocks order reinstating FTC commissioner
WASHINGTON, July 22 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court late on Monday temporarily blocked a court order that allowed Democratic U.S. Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter to resume her role at the agency, despite the White House's effort to remove her from office. The Justice Department, in a filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, had argued the district court judge's reinstatement of Slaughter runs afoul of the president's executive powers under the U.S. Constitution. The three-judge panel of the court said the lower court ruling would remain on hold until court papers are filed by July 29. Slaughter in a statement, opens new tab on Tuesday said she will "continue to fight my illegal firing and see this case through." "Like dozens of other federal agencies, the Federal Trade Commission has been protected from presidential politics for nearly a century," Slaughter said. The White House said in a statement that the Supreme Court has "repeatedly upheld the President's constitutional authority to fire and remove executive officers" and that the administration "looks forward to victory on this issue." The appeals court said the order was meant to give the judges sufficient time to consider the Trump administration's request to block the ruling and should not be "construed in any way as a ruling on the merits." The Justice Department is challenging a July 17 order by U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington that said the White House violated federal law in removing Slaughter, who was first appointed by Republican President Donald Trump and reappointed by Democratic former President Joe Biden. The case in the appeals court will mark the latest clash over the Trump administration's efforts to fire some Democratic officials at federal agencies. The U.S. Supreme Court in May ruled that Trump could bar two Democratic members of federal labor boards from their posts while they challenge the legality of his dismissal of them. The FTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. Slaughter and another ousted Democratic FTC commissioner, Alvaro Bedoya, sued the Trump administration in March over its decision to remove them. They said Trump violated a law that allows a president to fire an FTC member only for good cause, including neglect of duties. Bedoya has since formally resigned from the agency. In her ruling last week, AliKhan said the Trump administration's attempt to oust Slaughter did not comply with removal protections in federal law. AliKhan, who was appointed by Biden, said the Trump administration wants "the FTC to be something it is not: a subservient agency subject to the whims of the President and wholly lacking in autonomy. But that is not how Congress structured it."
Reuters
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
US appeals court temporarily blocks order reinstating FTC commissioner Slaughter
WASHINGTON, July 21 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court late on Monday temporarily blocked a court order that allowed Democratic U.S. Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter to resume her role at the agency, despite the White House's effort to remove her from office. The Justice Department, in a filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, had argued the district court judge's reinstatement of Slaughter runs afoul of the president's executive powers under the U.S. Constitution. The three-judge panel of the court said the lower-court ruling would remain on hold until court papers are filed by July 29. The court said the order was to give the judges sufficient time to consider the request of President Donald Trump's administration request to block the ruling and should not be "construed in any way as a ruling on the merits." The Justice Department is challenging a July 17 order by U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington that said the White House violated federal law in removing Slaughter, who was first appointed by Trump and reappointed by Democratic former President Joe Biden. The case in the appeals court will mark the latest clash over the Republican Trump administration's efforts to fire some Democratic officials at federal agencies. The U.S. Supreme Court in May ruled that Trump could bar two Democratic members of federal labor boards from their posts while they challenge the legality of his dismissal of them. The White House, FTC and lawyers for Slaughter did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday. Slaughter and another ousted Democratic FTC commissioner, Alvaro Bedoya, sued the Trump administration in March over their removal. They said Trump violated a law that allows a president to fire an FTC member only for good cause, including neglect of duties. Bedoya has since formally resigned from the agency. In her ruling last week, AliKhan said the Trump administration's attempt to remove Slaughter did not comply with removal protections in federal law. AliKhan, who was appointed by Biden, said the Trump administration wants 'the FTC to be something it is not: a subservient agency subject to the whims of the President and wholly lacking in autonomy. But that is not how Congress structured it.'
Reuters
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Trump administration asks US appeals court to block order reinstating FTC commissioner Slaughter
July 21 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration on Monday asked a U.S. appeals court to block a court order that allowed Democratic U.S. Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter to resume her role at the agency, despite the White House's effort to remove her from office. The Justice Department in a filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the lower judge's reinstatement of Slaughter runs afoul of the president's executive powers under the U.S. Constitution.
Reuters
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Judge rules Trump's firing of FTC commissioner was illegal
WASHINGTON, July 17 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Thursday ruled the firing of U.S. Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter by President Donald Trump earlier this year was illegal. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan said the Trump administration's attempt to remove Slaughter did not comply with removal protections in federal law. The White House and FTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 'Because those protections remain constitutional, as they have for almost a century, Ms. Slaughter's purported removal was unlawful and without legal effect,' AliKhan wrote. AliKhan said the Trump administration wants 'the FTC to be something it is not: a subservient agency subject to the whims of the President and wholly lacking in autonomy. But that is not how Congress structured it.'
Reuters
20-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
FTC's Democrats to ask judge to rule Trump fired them illegally
May 20 (Reuters) - Two Democrats on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission who were fired by President Donald Trump in March will urge a federal judge in Washington to declare the move illegal on Tuesday, in the latest showdown over the limits of presidential power. Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter seek an order declaring their terminations unlawful and allowing them to resume their work at the agency, which enforces consumer protection and antitrust law. The case is one of several testing a 90-year-old Supreme Court precedent that shields independent agencies from direct White House control. A ruling overturning it could reverberate far and wide, shaking the independence of agencies that regulate road safety, stock markets, telecommunications and monetary policy. Bedoya and Slaughter say their terminations on March 18 openly defied a law allowing the president to fire FTC commissioners only for good cause, such as neglecting their duties. The Supreme Court upheld that law in the 1935 case Humphrey's Executor v. U.S., after the last time a U.S. president attempted to fire an FTC commissioner over a policy disagreement. Congress has the power to create agencies that serve legislative or judicial functions, and allowing the president to control those agencies violates the separation of powers, the Supreme Court ruled. The Trump administration has argued Humphrey's Executor does not apply to the current FTC, which gained the authority to sue in federal court to block mergers and seek financial penalties after the case was decided. As it now exists, the FTC should be considered part of the executive branch controlled by the president, not Congress, the administration has said. Multiple courts have considered that argument and rejected it, saying the Supreme Court settled the matter, Slaughter and Bedoya said. The FTC, currently led by three Republicans, is structured so that no more than three of its five commissioners come from the same party. The case is playing out at the same time as similar challenges by members of the Merit Systems Protection Board and National Labor Relations Board who were fired by Trump. The Supreme Court could rule at any time on whether the Trump administration must reinstate the NLRB and MSPB members, while this case is being reviewed.
