Three Democratic members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission vowed on Friday to fight back after U.S. President Donald Trump moved to fire them, an effort that the trio described as part of the White House's unlawful assault on independent agencies.
Mary Boyle, Richard Trumka Jr., and Alex Hoehn-Saric are now listed on the CPSC's website as "former commissioners." The Washington Post reported that Trump moved to fire the commissioners "shortly after" the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency visited the agency on Thursday.
"The Democratic commissioners objected to two DOGE employees being formally detailed to the agency," the Post noted, citing Trumka's account.
Boyle and Trumka said they received emails from the White House late Thursday informing them of the president's bid to remove them from their posts. Hoehn-Saric said in a statement Friday that while he has yet to receive communication from the White House, the acting chair of the CPSC is "preventing me from executing my duties as commissioner based on an assertion that the president is also seeking my removal."
"The illegal attempt to remove me from the CPSC happened immediately after my colleagues and I took steps to advance our safety work and protect our staff from arbitrary firings," said Hoehn-Saric. "President Trump's action politicizes a critical independent public safety agency that was structured by law to avoid such interference."
All three of the Democratic commissioners indicated that they don't intend to leave the agency quietly, following in the footsteps of commissioners at other agencies who have challenged Trump's attempts to fire them, setting the stage for a high-stakes battle at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Trumka, son of the late labor leader Richard Trumka, said Friday that he has "a set term on this independent, bipartisan commission that does not expire until October of 2028." Last week, Trumka defied a Trump executive order instructing federal agencies to submit all proposed rules to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review.
"I will continue protecting the American people from harm through that time," Trumka continued. "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, whose term was set to expire later this year, also signaled that she intends to remain at her post.
"Until my term as commissioner concludes,” Boyle said, "I will insist on following these time-tested principles, and I will use my voice to speak out on behalf of safety."
Consumer advocates voiced outrage in response to Trump's attempt to fire the CPSC commissioners.
"The illegal firing of CPSC commissioners is not just a brazen, unprecedented, and reckless assault on the rule of law, it is a direct threat to the lives and physical safety of Americans, especially our most vulnerable, infants and children," said Courtney Griffin, Director of Consumer Product Safety at the Consumer Federation of America. "The consequences may be measured in preventable injuries, hospitalizations, and lives lost."
William Wallace, director of safety advocacy for Consumer Reports, said in a statement that "this is an appalling and lawless attack on the independence of our country's product safety watchdog."
"Anyone who cares about keeping their family safe should oppose this move and demand that it be reversed," Wallace added. "This isn't really about the individual leaders, as commendable as they are. It's about whether Congress can maintain a federal agency that takes strong action to protect the public, based on scientific evidence and insulated from political whims."