FTC Commissioner Slaughter Reinstated by Court

Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter was reinstated to her position at the Federal Trade Commission on Thursday, four months after President Trump unlawfully attempted to fire her and then-Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya.

Ruling in a lawsuit brought by the two commissioners, U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan held that Slaughter “remains a rightful member of the Federal Trade Commission until the expiration of her Senate-confirmed term on September 25, 2029” and barred FTC officials “from removing Ms. Slaughter from her lawful position as an FTC Commissioner or otherwise interfering with Ms. Slaughter’s right to perform her lawful duties as an FTC Commissioner[.]”

“We believe that the Federal Trade Commission needs to get to work to protect the American people from fraud, identity theft, and rampant privacy abuses,” said EPIC Executive Director Alan Butler. “The court’s reinstatement of Commissioner Slaughter is an important step toward a fully staffed and fully functional FTC, and we look forward to pushing for robust enforcement of consumer privacy standards at the Commission.”

The Supreme Court explicitly held in 1935 that the commissioners the FTC—an independent agency—can only be fired for cause. This allows Congress to insulate the important work of the Commission from unwarranted politicization while still ensuring presidential oversight. EPIC warned in March that President Trump’s order purporting to fire Commissioners Slaughter and Bedoya ignored that well established law and threatened the agency’s vital work to protect consumers from harmful business and data practices.

“Defendants’ attempt to remove Ms. Slaughter from her position as an FTC Commissioner did not comply with the FTC Act’s removal protections,” the court wrote. “Because those protections remain constitutional, as they have for almost a century, Ms. Slaughter’s purported removal was unlawful and without legal effect.”

Commissioner Slaughter returned to work at the FTC’s headquarters on Friday, identifying the restoration of the click-to-cancel rule as her top priority. The click-to-cancel rule, adopted by the FTC last year, would prohibit unfairly trapping consumers in recurring subscriptions that allow businesses to siphon off money and personal data. The rule was recently vacated by the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on questionable procedural grounds at the urging of the businesses it would regulate.

Former Commissioner Bedoya stepped down in June, citing the financial challenges of fighting his unlawful removal for three months without income.

For decades, EPIC has worked with the Commission under different administrations to safeguard consumers’ data against abuses from Big Tech. EPIC has condemned President Trump’s gutting of numerous other agencies, including the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.