Federal Judge Rules Trump Illegally Fired Independent Agency Democrats

Federal judges have ruled that President Trump's firings of members from independent federal agencies, including the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), were illegal due to the protections these agencies have against at-will dismissal. The PCLOB, a privacy watchdog created after 9/11 to oversee government surveillance activities, was left without a quorum after Trump fired all Democratic members, hindering its ability to function. Judges affirmed that these removals violated longstanding Supreme Court precedent established in Humphrey's Executor v. United States, which limits the president's authority to remove independent agency members except for cause. The Trump administration argues that agencies like the FTC have evolved to perform executive functions and thus fall under presidential control, a position courts have largely rejected. The ongoing lawsuits by former commissioners such as Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter seek to restore their positions and reaffirm the independence of regulatory agencies critical for consumer protection and civil liberties. These cases highlight a broader constitutional debate over the balance of executive power and the independence of federal regulatory bodies.