President Donald Trump’s latest round of firings at so-called independent federal agencies is poised to trigger another legal battle over the scope of his executive authority as he continues to remove Democrats from their posts. Late Thursday night, Commissioners Richard Trumka Jr. and Mary Boyle of the Consumer Product Safety Commission—both appointees of former President Joe Biden—were notified via email that they were being removed from their positions.
The CPSC firings mark the third instance this week in which President Trump has removed Democrats serving at independent federal agencies, the Washington Examiner reported. Earlier on Thursday, Trump dismissed Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, who had held the position since 2016. Just two days prior, he also fired Alvin Brown, vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. In March, former Federal Trade Commission commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter—both Democrats—accused Trump of acting “illegally” when he removed them before the end of their terms.
While senior White House officials insist President Trump acted within his legal authority, noting that Joe Biden also fired Trump appointees and got away with it, the dismissed federal officials say they intend to challenge the terminations in court. Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers are signaling their support for the ousted appointees, framing the firings as part of a broader effort to resist Trump’s push to downsize the federal government.
On Friday afternoon, Trumka and Alex Hoehn-Saric—the third Democratic commissioner on the Consumer Product Safety Commission, also appointed by Biden in 2021—joined Democratic lawmakers on a press call to contest the firings. Trumka said he was notified of his dismissal via email from Trent Morse, Trump’s deputy director of presidential personnel. The email, reviewed by the Washington Examiner on Friday evening, confirmed his termination.
Despite Democratic efforts to highlight the firings, key Republican officials expressed confidence on Friday that the president was acting within his legal authority. “Cry harder,” a top Republican Hill aide mused to the Examiner when asked about Democrats rallying behind fired government employees. “Do they seriously think voters are just gonna turn on POTUS because some overpaid bureaucrat is out of a job? Give me a break.”
“It’s a federal agency in which branch? The Executive Branch. Who’s the head of the Executive Branch? The President of the United States,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Friday’s briefing when asked about the CPSC firings. “He has the right to fire people in the executive branch. Pretty simply.”
Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller aimed to alleviate safety concerns for American families that may arise from the CPSC firings. “The important thing to understand is that we don’t just let people stay in their jobs just because they were always there, right? We have to examine the performance of specific employees, whether they’re doing the best that they can do,” he told reporters Friday afternoon.
“In particular, as a parent, there’s been lots of concerns that I’ve had, that my family’s had, about product safety in this country. We can absolutely do better, and we will do better, but that requires hiring the best people for the job, and President Trump will always hire the best,” Miller added.