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Trump fires Democrats on independent Consumer Product Safety Commission

Richard L. Trumka Jr., a Democratic commissioner on the Consumer Product Safety Commission, is photographed in January 2023 in Bethesda, Maryland. MUST CREDIT: Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)
By Todd C. Frankel and Maxine Joselow Washington Post

President Donald Trump moved late Thursday to fire the three Democratic commissioners on the five-person Consumer Product Safety Commission, his administration’s latest test to the limits of presidential power over independent agencies.

The move comes as the Supreme Court is expected to weigh in on whether Trump has the authority to remove officials without cause at similar independent agencies, such as the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board.

Democratic Commissioners Mary Boyle, a longtime agency employee before her appointment, and Richard L. Trumka Jr., who gained national attention in 2023 for suggesting that the CPSC could ban gas stoves because of their indoor air pollution, said in statements that they received emails from the White House Thursday notifying them of their firings. Alex Hoehn-Saric, who had served as the CPSC’s chairman until earlier this year, said that on Friday, CPSC acting chairman Peter Feldman, a Republican, said that the president was also seeking to remove him.

Trump’s actions leave the safety regulator with two members on its five member board – Feldman and fellow Republican Douglas Dziak. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

The CPSC regulates the safety of everyday consumer products, such as baby toys, strollers, bicycles and even all-terrain vehicles.

The firings took place shortly after members of the U.S. DOGE Service, which stands for Department of Government Efficiency, visited the agency Thursday. The Democratic commissioners objected to two DOGE employees being formally detailed to the agency, according to Trumka.

The three Democratic commissioners said in a statement that they planned to oppose their dismissals in court.

Hoehn-Saric said Trump’s action “is unlawful and is part of this Administration’s efforts to eliminate federal agencies, personnel, and policies that have made Americans safer.”

Trumka also argued that his firing was illegal.

“I have a set term on this independent, bipartisan Commission that does not expire until October of 2028, and I will continue protecting the American people from harm through that time,” he wrote. “The President would like to end this nation’s long history of independent agencies, so he’s chosen to ignore the law and pretend independence doesn’t exist. I’ll see him in court.”

Boyle said she did not intend to back down and planned to continue serving at the CPSC.

“Until my term as commissioner concludes,” Boyle said in a statement, “I will insist on following these time-tested principles, and I will use my voice to speak out on behalf of safety.”