According to the FTC Act, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is to be directed by five Commissioners. Of those, only three can be of the same political party. These Commissioners serve for a seven-year term and may only be removed by the President for what the FTC Act calls “inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.”
Until now. In early 2025, President Trump announced the removal of Democratic Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya and FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter without cause, stating their removal was based on service that was “inconsistent” with his administration’s priorities. Slaughter and Bedoya filed suit, winning in lower courts because of previous Supreme Court rulings that upheld the language of the FTC Act. This week, however, a landmark decision by the US Supreme Court in Trump v. Slaughter decided that the “for-cause” removal protections of Commissioners were unconstitutional and that the President can remove officers at will.
The Slaughter ruling is expected to have significant impact on the federal regulatory environment, as traditionally bipartisan agencies are reshaped between administrations, and businesses who engage with the FTC will almost certainly feel the effect of this shift moving forward. Legal experts are already predicting that regulatory enforcement will move quickly to match with the current administration, and that this will undoubtedly have long-term consequences for high-capital investments and planning, since predictability across Presidents will be almost impossible.
