OMI Condemns SCOTUS Ruling on FTC Commissioner Slaughter

Open Markets Institute Legal Director Sandeep Vaheesan released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling to remove FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter from her post while they consider the case of whether the president can fire the leaders of independent government agencies. Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.

“Today, in a one-paragraph order, the Supreme Court authorized President Trump's illegal firing of Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and his ongoing destruction of the independent, bipartisan Federal Trade Commission. As Justice Kagan wrote in her dissent, Commissioner Slaughter was fired without cause and is clearly entitled to her position under the FTC Act and controlling Supreme Court precedent. The Court could override Congress's decision to create an independent FTC on specious constitutional grounds but until it takes that step Commissioner Slaughter has a right to her job.”

Open Markets has repeatedly condemned the Trump administration’s attempts to fire both Commissioners Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya, calling President Trump’s attacks on the FTC a choice to “put the interests of the oligarch and all-powerful corporation first.”