Fired Up: FTC Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter Say They’ll Fight Trump

On with Kara Swisher

New York Magazine

News Commentary, News, Society & Culture

4.2 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 24 March 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

President Trump fired Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter, the two Democratic commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission, last week, sending shock waves through political and business circles. The FTC is an independent, bipartisan agency and, as a defender of antitrust and consumer protection laws, one of the most important government watchdogs. FTC commissioners serve seven year terms and, according to a 1935 SCOTUS ruling, can only be fired for cause. But even though, based on that decision, Bedoya’s and Slaughter’s terminations are illegal, FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson has come out in support of Trump’s firing power. The White House says it’s ready to take the case to the Supreme Court. Kara talks to Bedoya and Slaughter about why this happened now, what Elon Musk and other tech billionaires stand to gain by getting rid of “minority commissioners,” and why business leaders are concerned that Trump’s move could affect other independent agencies, like the Federal Reserve. Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	He was saying his internet on his Chromebook can be a little spotty.
0:04.1	Why is he using a Chromebook?
0:06.0	Because we had very good computers until this week, and now we had to dig out our, whatever we happen to have in our house.
0:14.0	It's on. Hi, everyone from New York Magazine in the Vox Media Podcast Network.
0:28.0	This is on with Kara Swisher, and I'm Kara Swisher.
0:30.5	Last week, the Trump administration illegally fired Alvaro Badoia and Rebecca Slaughter,
0:35.1	the two Democratic commissioners on the Federal Trade Commission.
0:38.6	The FTC is an independent bipartisan agency.
0:41.3	Its commissioners serve seven-year terms.
0:43.1	They can only be fired for cause.
0:45.2	When FDR tried to fire a commissioner without cause, the Supreme Court ruled that it was illegal.
0:50.2	But last month, President Trump issued an executive order that claimed power over independent
0:54.8	agencies.
0:56.0	And after the firings, his press secretary, Carolyn Levitt, said they were willing to take the
1:00.2	fight all the way to the Supreme Court.
1:02.7	Well, Tracy Flick, that's where it's going.
1:05.2	And as Politico put it, Washington and the business world are freaking out about Trump's
1:09.7	FTC firings. So today, I'm talking to those people, Alvaro Badoia and the business world are freaking out about Trump's FTC firings. So today, I'm talking to
1:13.0	those people, Alvaro Badoia and Rebecca Slaughter. Before joining the FTC, Alvaro founded the Center for
1:19.0	Privacy and Technology at Georgetown Law School and helped establish the U.S. Senate Judiciary
1:23.8	Subcommittee on Privacy as its first chief counsel. Rebecca served as chief counsel to Senator Charles Schumer before joining the FTC, and before that,
1:32.7	she was an associate in the DC office of Sidley-Austin LLP.
	...

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