Trump purges Democrats from US Federal Trade Commission

The only two Democrats on the US
Federal Trade Commission have been fired by President Donald Trump, the White
House said, opening the door for the Republican to appoint loyalists at the
independent regulatory agency.

The FTC’s primary function is to protect the US public against deceptive or
unfair business practices.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a White House official confirmed that
FTC commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter were dismissed.
The FTC consists of five commissioners, typically representing both major
political parties.

“The president just illegally fired me,” Bedoya wrote in a post on X,
formerly Twitter. “This is corruption plain and simple.”

Bedoya vowed in an X post to “see the president in court” over the
dismissal.

Layoffs of federal workers have been rampant since Trump took office in
January and established a “Department of Government Efficiency” headed by
billionaire Elon Musk, a senior advisor and key financial backer of the
Republican’s campaign.

“The FTC is an independent agency founded 111 years ago to fight fraudsters
and monopolists,” Bedoya said in a post. “Now, the president wants the FTC to
be a lapdog for his golfing buddies.”

Under Trump and former president Joe Biden, the FTC has taken on Apple,
Amazon, Google, and Facebook parent Meta over how they wield market power.

In an interview with Fox Business in February, newly appointed FTC Chair
Andrew Ferguson confirmed that ongoing cases against Amazon and Meta would
proceed, emphasizing his commitment to “holding Big Tech’s feet to the fire.”

Questions have lingered, however, on whether the Trump presidency will
continue with the cases, given an apparent alignment between tech billionaires
and the Republican since he won last year’s election.

Since that victory, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made major changes at his
company to bring it in line with Trump’s preferences. He has axed US
fact-checking on Facebook, named Trump ally Dana White to Meta’s board and
appointed a Republican advisor as head of global policy.

Amazon boss Jeff Bezos visited the president during the transition period,
and has sought to make his Washington Post newspaper less hostile to the
president.

The billionaire has ordered the Post’s opinion section not to run columns
opposed to “personal liberties and free markets,” and quashed its planned
endorsement of Democrat Kamala Harris before the US election.

Musk, Bezos and other tech billionaires were given prominent places at
Trump’s inauguration in January, with several making million-dollar donations
to the committee organizing the event.(AFP)