Testing the limits of executive power, President Trump fired the two Democratic Commissioners on the Federal Trade Commission, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya. This leaves the Commission with only two Commissioners, FTC Chair Andrew N. Ferguson and Melissa Holyoak.
Both Slaughter and Bedoya have said that they plan to challenge the legality of the firings. In a statement, Slaughter said, “The President illegally fired me from my position as a Federal Trade Commissioner, violating the plain language of a statute and clear Supreme Court precedent.”
Ferguson also issued a statement, supporting the legality of Trump's action. He wrote, “I have no doubts about this constitutional authority to remove Commissioners, which is necessary to ensure democratic accountability for our government. The Federal Trade Commission will continue its tireless work to protect consumers, lower prices, and police anticompetitive behavior.”
How does this impact advertisers?
With the removal of the Democratic Commissioners, Republicans now control the Commission. (We had still been waiting for the confirmation of the the fifth Commissioner, which also would have given the Republicans control.) This may immediately free up Ferguson to take actions that he didn't currently have the votes to support.
Without (at least for now) Democrats on the Commission, we're also less likely to see dissents being issued, which often give interesting insights into the policy and legal issues that the Commission struggles with.
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