Democratic FTC commissioners blast Trump's 'illegal' firings

President Donald Trump fired two Democratic commissioners serving on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the regulatory agency overseeing antitrust and consumer protection laws and which has been traditionally independent and staffed by members of both political parties.  

 The two Democratic commissioners–Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter–were the only Democrats at the regulator following the resignation of Chairwoman Lina Khan, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate in 2021. She resigned from the FTC on Jan. 21 after Andrew Ferguson was appointed by Trump to chair the FTC. 

In a statement Tuesday posted on X, formerly Twitter, Bedoya said, “The president just illegally fired me.”