S6E670: Trump Fires Democrat Consumer Commission

Trump Seeks OK to Fire Dems on Consumer Commission

The Trump administration on Wednesday requested that the Supreme Court lift the order of a federal judge who reinstated three Democrat members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) who were fired by President Donald Trump.

The administration requested that the court give an immediate order to permit the firings to go forward, over the objections of lawyers for the commissioners.

In its filing to the Supreme Court, the Justice Department said the president has the power to fire independent agency board members, citing a May ruling in which the Supreme Court "stayed injunctions ordering the reinstatement of members of the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board, citing the government's likelihood of success on the merits and 'the disruptive effect of the repeated removal and reinstatement of officers during the pendency of this litigation.'"

The administration stated that in the case of the CPSC firings, "President Trump decided to remove three commissioners who would otherwise make up a majority of the CPSC, and whose actions since their putative reinstatement only underscore their hostility to the president's agenda. The district court's order effectively transfers control of the CPSC from President Trump to three commissioners who had been appointed by President Biden - even though President Trump now holds 'the mandate of the people to exercise [the] executive power.'

SHOW NOTES

• Judge Blocks Trump's Firing of 3 Consumer Safety Members
• Trump Fires 3 Dems on Consumer Product Panel