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3mo ago

Trump Fires Three Democratic Consumer Product Safety Commissioners, Prompting Legal Battle

The dismissals, following a Department of Government Efficiency visit, leave the agency under Republican control and raise questions about presidential authority over independent regulators.

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Elliot Kaye (L), chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and CPSC employees watch as a 28-pound (13 kilo) dummy(C) falls over and under IKEAs Malm model chest of drawers, during a live demonstration at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on June 28, 2016. Furniture giant Ikea said June 28 it would recall its hugely popular Malm model of chest of drawers in the US and Canada after six children in the US were crushed to death when the chests tipped over. In 2015, Ikea launched a campaign in the US and Canada to encourage owners of the Malm chests of drawers to anchor them to the wall.
Richard Trumka Jr. accepts the Presidential Medal of Freedom on behalf of his father the late Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, from U.S. President Joe Biden during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House July 7, 2022 in Washington, DC.
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Overview

  • President Trump removed three Democratic commissioners from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), citing presidential authority over the executive branch.
  • The firings occurred shortly after a visit from the Department of Government Efficiency, which has been involved in restructuring federal agencies.
  • The dismissals leave the CPSC with only two Republican commissioners, Peter Feldman and Douglas Dziak, shifting control of the agency.
  • The fired commissioners, Mary Boyle, Richard Trumka Jr., and Alexander Hoehn-Saric, argue the removals violate statutory protections and plan to challenge them in court.
  • The Supreme Court is expected to address broader constitutional questions about the president's authority to remove officials from independent agencies like the CPSC in pending cases.