It turns out that there’s not a single decision President Donald J. Trump can make that’s not subject to the approval of an activist judge.
Or, at least, it seems that way after a federal judge appointed by former President Joe Biden decided on Thursday that Trump’s firing of a Democratic commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was illegal.
U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan ruled the Trump administration’s “attempt to remove” Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter “did not comply with the FTC Act’s removal protections,” according to The Hill.
Today, a federal district court judge said: “the purported removal of [Rebecca Kelly Slaughter] from the Federal Trade Commission was unlawful.” She remains a “rightful member” of the FTC, the judge said in an order. pic.twitter.com/dKcMlETszJ
— Dwight A. Weingarten (@DwightWeingart2) July 17, 2025
“Defendants repeatedly want the FTC to be something it is not: a subservient agency subject to the whims of the President and wholly lacking in autonomy. But that is not how Congress structured it,” the judge wrote in her opinion.
“Undermining that autonomy by allowing the President to remove Commissioners at will inflicts an exceptionally unique harm distinct from the mine run of wrongful termination cases,” AliKhan added.
Trump fired two Democratic commissioners at the FTC back in March.
“A White House official confirmed the firings of Democratic Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter after they were first reported by Reuters, but had no additional comment,” NBC reported at the time.
Slaughter said in a statement that she’s ready to get back to work.
“As the Court recognized today, the law is clear, and I look forward to getting back to work. The for-cause removal protections that apply to my colleagues and me at the FTC also protect other independent economic regulators like the SEC, the FDIC, and the Federal Reserve,” she said.
Statement by reinstated FTC Commissioner @RKSlaughterFTC https://t.co/OAgSfmC5EU pic.twitter.com/ykaXwbDjZJ
— Douglas Farrar (@DouglasLFarrar) July 17, 2025
The White House plans to appeal the “unlawful decision.”
“The Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld the President’s constitutional authority to fire and remove executive officers who exercise his authority. The Trump Administration will appeal this unlawful decision and looks forward to victory on this issue,” a spokesperson said, according to Reuters
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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