Two Democratic former members of the Federal Trade Commission sued President Trump on Thursday over his decision to fire them from the agency, accusing him of an illegal overreach of executive power.
Mr. Trump fired the Democratic commissioners, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya, on March 18, upending the consumer protection agency, which is typically run by three members from the president’s party and two from the opposing party.
In a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, lawyers for Ms. Slaughter and Mr. Bedoya argued that Mr. Trump’s dismissals of them were without cause and violated federal law.
They cited a 1935 Supreme Court precedent that said the president may not fire independent regulatory boards members solely over policy disagreements.
“The president’s action is indefensible under governing law,” the lawsuit said.
A White House spokeswoman, Taylor Rogers, said in a statement, “The Trump administration operated within its lawful authority when it determined that the service of the former F.T.C. commissioners was inconsistent with the administration’s priorities.”
The F.T.C. has been responsible for some of the biggest showdowns between corporate America and the federal government. In April, the agency is scheduled to face off against Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and other apps, at an antitrust trial over whether the tech giant illegally stifled nascent competitors when it bought Instagram and WhatsApp.
The F.T.C. has also filed lawsuits against Amazon, arguing it made it hard for consumers to cancel its Prime subscription service and squeezed small merchants that use its site.
Under Chairman Andrew Ferguson, the agency has increasingly turned its focus to the big online platforms’ power over speech and discourse. Last month, the agency began soliciting comments from people and businesses who said their posts had been improperly removed by social media sites.
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