President Donald Trump’s removal of Rebecca Slaughter, a Democratic member of the Republican-majority Federal Trade Commission, is now under review by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Slaughter told ABC News Live she’s “gonna stay in the fight” despite being forced to leave her office.
“I care a lot about my agency, a lot of my job, but much more about the principle that protects independence, accountability, transparency, and checks and balances in government, which I think we need now more than ever,” Slaughter told ABC News.
Chief Justice John Roberts issued a temporary stay on Monday, which paused lower court orders that had deemed her removal illegal and allowed her brief return to work last week. However, the Supreme Court has not yet ruled definitively on Trump’s emergency request to permanently terminate Slaughter.
At issue is whether Trump can fire FTC commissioners at will. Congress created the five-member commission in 1914 with members serving seven-year terms and removable only for cause. A 1935 Supreme Court ruling upheld these protections, though several current justices have indicated that precedent should be overturned.
During her three days back at the FTC last week, Slaughter told ABC News she voted on several key issues, including dissenting against the agency’s decision to abandon defense of its non-compete clause rule.
“Congress designed these agencies, like the FTC, like the Fed, like SEC, the whole panoply of independent agencies to have bipartisan voices so that there could be accountability and transparency,” Slaughter said.
She also expressed concern about the state of the agency, pointing out the significant staff departures.
“I felt like I came back to an agency that was totally transformed,” she said. “There’s been a widespread attack on public servants, and the FTC has not been exempt from that.”
Trump has sought expanded authority to remove leaders of various independent agencies, successfully winning Supreme Court backing for removals at the Consumer Product Safety Commission, National Labor Relations Board, and Merit Systems Protection Board.
While Slaughter won’t return to her office while the stay is in effect, she said this is just one step in a longer legal process.
“What happened today is one procedural step in a case that has a long way to go,” she said.
The case represents a challenge to presidential powers that special counsel Amit Agarwal said breaks from decades of precedent.
“Every other President since 1935 has followed the law and respected Congress’s judgment that FTC Commissioners should not be fired without cause,” Agarwal said last week.
