By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -One of the two Democratic commissioners at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission who challenged their firings by President Donald Trump said on Monday he was stepping down from the agency that enforces consumer protection and antitrust law.
Alvaro Bedoya said he would step down to comply with ethics rules but will remain a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging his dismissal.
“I love this work. But I’m not getting paid for it,” Bedoya said in a statement posted on social media. “But my number one job is to take care of my family.”
The FTC is currently led by three Republicans.
Since taking office in January, Trump has fired or forced out many members of independent agencies as well as the head of Amtrak and U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
Democratic FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter has also sued seeking an order declaring her termination unlawful and allowing her to resume work at the agency.
The challenges from Bedoya and Slaughter are among several testing a 90-year-old Supreme Court precedent that shields independent agencies from direct White House control.
A ruling overturning it could reverberate far and wide, shaking the independence of agencies that regulate road safety, stock markets, telecommunications and monetary policy.
Last month, the Supreme Court allowed Trump’s firing of two Democratic members of federal labor boards to remain in effect while their legal challenges proceed.
The court temporarily blocked orders by two separate federal judges that had shielded Cathy Harris from being dismissed from the Merit Systems Protection Board and Gwynne Wilcox from being removed from the National Labor Relations Board before their terms expire.
Their legal challenges are ongoing in lower courts. Both were appointed by Trump’s Democratic predecessor President Joe Biden.
Others fired by Trump who have sued include Alvin Brown, the vice chair of the National Transportation Safety Board.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Jamie Freed)
