Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. is photographed to the Consumer Product Safety Commission on January 20, 2023 in Bethesda, Maryland.
Ricky Carioti / The Washington Post via Getty Images
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Ricky Carioti / The Washington Post via Getty Images
Democratic members of an independent agency dedicated to the protection of Americans against dangerous products and reminders and security warnings were dismissed by President Trump via a night email.
This is Trump’s latest example that seeks to replace senior officials from independent federal agencies – efforts that have aroused legal challenges.
These layoffs come as consumer protection groups and legislators warn that Trump could try to dismantle the entire Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
The Democrats of Congress and Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent of Vermont, published a letter on Friday sentenced the presumed plans by Office of Management and the director of the Russell Vought budget to eliminate the agency and absorb its functions and staff in what the legislators describe as a “personnel division currently non -existing within the Ministry of Health and Social Services”.
It is not clear if the Trump administration would continue such a plan. The White House did not immediately respond to the request for comments from the NPR, but when it was questioned about the changes to the CPSC during its press briefing on Friday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the president “had the right to dismiss people in the executive power”.
Richard Trumka Jr., one of the three Democratic commissioners dismissed by Trump, said in a statement published on social networks: “I will see him in court”.
Trumka and Commissioner Mary Boyle received an email on Thursday evening to inform them that Trump was pulling them – for no reason indicated. Boyle confirmed his termination to THE Washington Post.
Alexander Hoehn-Saric, the third Democratic commissioner, said in a statement that he had received no communication from the White House, but that the acting president of the CPSC, Peter Feldman, prevents me from performing my functions as a commissioner on the basis of an assertion that the president also requests my withdrawal. “”
Feldman told CPSC employees in an e-mail that he had been informed of the abolition of Hoehn-Saric, Trumka and Boyle.
“The Constitution and the Consumer Product Safety Act grant the presidential authority to withdraw the members of the CPSC. President Trump exercised this authority, and he did so legally,” wrote Feldman. “The CPSC remains attached to our important security mission: to protect American consumers against the unreasonable risk of injury associated with consumer products. The Commission will continue to exercise its functions with diligence and integrity.”
Trumka said his dismissal and the alleged termination of Hoehn-Saric in the panel follows their refusal to follow the requests of Doge, Trump and the informal ministry of the effectiveness of the government of the billionaire Elon Musk. The two commissioners maintain their moves against the law.
“The illegal attempt to withdraw from the CPSC occurred immediately after my colleagues and I took measures to advance our safety work and protect our personnel against arbitrary dismissals,” wrote Hoehn-Saric in his declaration.
E-mail termination
The email at Trumka, examined by NPR, simply declares: “On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position on the Consumer Products Safety Commission is terminated immediately. Thank you for your service.”
CPSC, an agency formed in 1972, works to protect Americans from dangerous articles that have a risk of security or even risk death, such as adult portable bed rails and dangerous children’s toys. It also enters dangerous products in the ports of the country. The agency is led by five commissioners, the one who is president, which serves multi -year mandates. All the Democrats dismissed by Trump had more than several months to do their mandate.
The Panel website still lists the acting president, Feldman and republican commissioner, Douglas Dziak, whose mandate ended in October 2024. Democrats are now classified under “previous commissioners”.
Like Dziak, Trumka, Boyle and Hoehn-Saric were appointed by former president Joe Biden. Boyle was a long -standing staff member of the CPSC before being appointed to serve as a commissioner.
Trumka, whose father was a powerful labor manager and the Democratic Party Richard Trumka, had a law training with a career working as a deputy prosecutor in consumer protection division in Maryland and as a general councilor and director of staff of the Chamber’s sub-commerity on economic policy and consumers.
Hoehn-Saric also has law training and by working on monitoring consumer protection as a chief advisor within the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Trumka says that since Trump took office, the CPSC was forced to dismiss many of his employees – which he had refused to do. And for that, Dogi hit the agency’s door on Thursday afternoon, he said.
“At 3:45 p.m., the president of the actor of the CPSC, Peter Feldman, sent an email to the commissioners requesting the approval to bring on board two Doge de detail to the agency: Justin Fox and Nate Cavanaugh. He established a deadline of 6:00 p.m. to answer,” wrote Trumka.
They were refused. Trumka said: “If these people are authorized to govern our agency, they will defeat it and the result will return the chronometer to product safety. Two of my colleagues also said no, forming a majority to block the move. Rather than respecting the democratic process, shortly after, I received the e -mail that concerns me.”
The CPSC is the last independent federal agency facing the pressure of the Trump administration, and its Doge counterparts, to reduce the staff and acquiesce the control of the White House.
In February, Trump signed an executive decree which intended to give it more power on other independent agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, which oversees the markets, and the Federal Deposit Corp., which provides bank deposits. He wants all these agencies to put regulatory work thanks to his administration.
In addition to the thousands of federal workers ousted by DOGE, Trump dismissed high -ranking officials in independent agencies and any other office which he perceives as opposing the agenda of his administration. The Equality Employment Committee, the National Labor Relations Board and, more recently, the Congress Library have been affected by high -level fire.
Many of these layoffs are disputed before the court for the claim that these dismissals were illegal.
Trumka and Hoehn-Saric say that their layoffs are illegal. Trumka promises its own legal action.
“I will continue to protect the American people from damage at that time. The president would like to end the long history of independent agencies of this nation, so he chose to ignore the law and claim that independence does not exist. I will see it in court,” wrote Trumka. “CPSC rescue work is far too important to take this lying down.”
