Washington, Mar 19 (AP) President Donald Trump fired two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday, intensifying efforts to exert his administration's control over independent agencies across the government.

Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter said they'd been dismissed illegally and would sue to block Trump's order. They also said they consider themselves still part of the FTC, though whether they will still have access to their offices and logistical tools like email going forward was unclear.

Removing Bedoya and Slaughter could free up space on the five-member FTC for new commissioners loyal to Trump and his priorities and policies.

The White House confirmed the dismissals. FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson, a Republican whom Trump designated for the role upon taking office in January, released a statement on X saying he had no doubts about Trump's “constitutional authority to remove Commissioners, which is necessary to ensure democratic accountability.” The FTC is a regulator created by Congress that enforces consumer protection measures and antitrust legislation. Its seats are typically comprised of three members of the president's party and two from the opposing party.

Commissioners are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. They serve seven-year terms that are staggered to prevent multiple vacancies at once.

The ousted commissioners pointed to past Supreme Court rulings that sought to solidify the body's independence and only allowed commissioners to be removed for cause.

“The president just illegally fired me. This is corruption plain and simple,” Bedoya, who was appointed in 2021 by President Joe Biden and confirmed in May 2022, posted on X.

He added, "The FTC is an independent agency founded 111 years ago to fight fraudsters and monopolists” but now “the president wants the FTC to be a lapdog for his golfing buddies.” The White House countered late Tuesday night that other Supreme Court rulings affirmed the president's “unrestricted” power to remove "executive officers who had been appointed by him.” Slaughter was first appointed to the FTC during Trump's first administration in 2018, and served as its acting chair in 2021. Biden renominated her for a second term in February 2023. Slaughter said in her statement that the "law protects the independence of the Commission because the law serves the American public, not corporate power.” “Removing opposition may not change what the Trump majority can do, but it does change whether they will have accountability when they do it," she wrote.

In 1935, the Supreme Court held that the president couldn't fire leaders of independent agencies without cause. Otherwise, the agencies would become more political and less independent.

While that restriction was eroded in a subsequent decision that came in 2020, it has largely remained in place.

The firings will likely intensify the legal fight around key questions about the extent of presidential powers — battles that could have consequences for other independent agencies, including the Federal Reserve. But the Trump administration has so far been undeterred in its push to expand a president's ability to remove such officials at will.

The president used a previous executive order to give the White House more control over the FTC and other regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission.

On a subsequent conference call with reporters, Bedoya noted that the FTC was engaged in cases involving tech giants and drug companies and predicted that the move will help powerful corporations while meaning higher prices for consumers.

“Who does this attempt to remove us help?” Bedoya asked. “Who it helps is billionaires. And I think it opens the door for corruption and for (a) law enforcement apparatus controlled, not by the law, but by money.” Slaughter said on the same call that she and Bedoya were informed at the end of the day about Trump's action and that no specific reason was given for the dismissals.

“We are not going to go," Slaughter said. "And we certainly are not going to go quietly.” She added, "Markets should be worried.” “This is a sign that the guardrails are coming off the protections for freedom and fairness in our economy," Slaughter said. “And it is a sign that honest businesses should be worried about corruption permeating markets.” The issue of Trump asserting greater influence is particularly fraught for the Federal Reserve, an institution that has long sought to protect its independence. Economists and financial markets broadly support an independent Fed because they worry a politicized version would be more reluctant to take unpopular steps to fight inflation, such as raise interest rates.

Trump has signaled he will let Fed chair Jerome Powell serve out his term, which ends May 2026. Yet he threatened to fire Powell in 2018 when Powell raised interest rates, a move that can often slow growth.

The dismissals of Bedoya and Slaughter follow the Trump administration removing several years worth of online “business guidance” blogs published by the FTC under the Biden administration. According to various snapshots from the Internet Archive, more than 350 blog posts published on the agency's website were taken down as of Tuesday.

The removed blog posts covered a wide range of information, from steps the FTC was taking to prevent harms of AI-enabled voice cloning to an explanation of its lawsuit against Amazon's Prime subscription program. Blog posts published between 2010 and 2017, under Obama, are still up on the agency's website.

Nidhi Hegde, executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project, an advocacy group that opposes monopolistic practices, said Bedoya and Slaughter's dismissals were “illegal and void.” “Independent agencies like the FTC exist to enforce the law as written by Congress and protect the public interest," Hegde said in a statement. “Not to be gutted at the whim of a president.” Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the only Democrat on both the Judiciary and Commerce committees, called the dismals “a blatantly illegal act." “It is another unconstitutional power grab. I'm glad you're suing,” Klobuchar said on the conference call with Bedoya and Slaughter. "In the end, I strongly believe that you will win and you will be reinstated as commissioners." (AP) NSA NSA