President Donald Trump has fired the three Democrats on the Consumer Product Safety Commission, a week after they voted to defy an executive order that asserted the White House’s power over independent regulatory agencies.
Commissioners Richard Trumka Jr. and Mary Boyle say they were told by the White House that the president had fired them. The third Democrat, Alexander Hoehn-Saric, said he had not been notified of his firing but that he’s been locked out of the Bethesda, Maryland-based agency.
All three were listed as “former commissioners” on the agency’s website Friday.
The three Democrats voted last to advance a rule on lithium-ion battery safety. Trumka called the ubiquitous devices “ticking time bombs” because they can explode if charged improperly.
But in posting the rule for public comment, the commission bypassed the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. In a February executive order, Trump instructed agencies like the CPSC to send all proposed rules for a White House review.
The fired commissioners also said their dismissal followed a visit from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency Thursday, after which they refused to go along with hiring two DOGE staffers — Justin Fox and Nate Cavanaugh — at the agency.
“There were DOGE people in the office this week and immediately after that our colleagues got their emails,” Hoehn-Saric said. He said DOGE was “breaking it up for parts and throwing it in the basement.”
Trumka said he would appeal his dismissal.
“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,” Trumka said in a statement on CPSC letterhead.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Friday said the president had acted within his powers.
“Who’s the head of the executive branch? The president of the United States. He has the right to fire people within the executive branch,” Leavitt told reporters at a briefing.
All three Democrats were appointed by former President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate in 2021. Trumka, the son of former labor union leader Richard Trumka, was appointed to a seven-year term. Hoehn-Saric term expires in 2027 and Boyle’s in October 2025.
Trumka’s advocacy for greater regulation of gas stoves in 2023 led to backlash from Republicans, who called it an example of regulatory overreach.
Like many similar boards, the CPSC is set up to be bipartisan, with members serving staggered terms and protected from firing except “for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office but for no other cause.”
Republican Peter Feldman, the commission’s acting chairman, told CPSC employees in an email Friday that Trump had the legal authority to fire commissioners and that the agency “will continue to carry out its duties with diligence and integrity.”
With assistance from Ari Natter.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
