Pelosi Joins Congressional Democrats in Fighting Back Against Trump’s Attacks on the FTC and Independent Agencies

San Francisco —  Yesterday, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi joined Senate and House Democrats in filing an amicus brief opposing President Donald Trump’s unlawful attempt to fire members of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). FTC Commissioners Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya are duly appointed, Senate-confirmed Commissioners at an independent federal agency created by Congress. Trump’s illegal attempts to terminate them threaten the integrity of independent federal agencies and the FTC’s ability to enforce civil antitrust law and protect the public from fraudsters and monopolists.

The brief was led in the Senate by Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee Ranking Member Cory Booker (NJ), Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (NY), Judiciary Ranking Member Dick Durbin (IL), Commerce Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (WA), Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA), and Senator Amy Klobuchar (MN). Co-Chairs of the House Litigation and Rapid Response Task Force, Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (MD-08) and Assistant Democratic Leader Joe Neguse (CO-02), in conjunction with Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08), Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), and Antitrust Subcommittee Ranking Member Jerry Nadler (NY-12) are leading the brief in the House of Representatives. 251 Congressional Democrats signed the amicus brief. 

In Slaughter v. Trump, a case filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the unlawful attempted firings of FTC Commissioners Slaughter and Bedoya, the congressional amicus brief argues: 

1. The Supreme Court’s 1935 decision in Humphrey’s Executor makes clear that Congress has the power to create independent multimember agencies like the FTC and provide removal protections for FTC Commissioners;

2. Throughout our nation’s history, Congress has created independent agencies with multimember boards or commissions whose members enjoy removal protections, like the Commissioners of the FTC, and this established practice has been consistently upheld by the Supreme Court; and

3. Constitutional text and history support Congress’ constitutional authority to temper the President’s exercise of removal.

The full brief is available here.