Trump has fired two Democratic Federal Trade Commission (FTC) commissioners.
It remains to be seen if Trump has the authority to do so.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
- The move runs counter to current Supreme Court precedent that says the FTC’s commissioners can only be removed for cause.
- The FTC is one of several commissions that were created to be bipartisan.
- The Trump administration has embraced a legal theory that the Constitution gives the president unconditional authority to manage the executive branch, which is popular among some conservative jurists and thinkers. It has put that to the test by dismissing appointees at several agencies, betting the courts will side with its interpretation of the Constitution.
Nick Timiraos, at the Journal, posits that this could have implications for the Federal Reserve:
This will be something to keep an eye on. The Fed is supposed to be independent of politics (are they?), and the prospect of member removal due to policy differences with the Oval Office is another uncertainty to add into the mix we are currently dealing with: