The three Democratic commissioners of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) who President Trump fired two weeks ago will not go down without a fight. Earlier this week they sued the president, arguing his unilateral terminations were unconstitutional. The lawsuit also names Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought, and CPSC Acting Chair Peter Feldman.
In the complaint, Commissioners Mary Boyle, Alexander Hoehn-Saric, and Richard Trumka Jr. argue that President Trump exceeded his executive removal power in purporting to terminate them without cause. Under the Consumer Product Safety Act, the president may only remove CPSC commissioners “for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office but for no other cause.”
Boyle, Hoehn-Saric, and Trumka all state there was no basis provided for their terminations, let alone “neglect of duty or malfeasance.” According to the complaint, Boyle and Trumka each received the same email from the Deputy Director of Presidential Personnel, Trent Morse, on May 8, 2025: “On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position on the Consumer Product Safety Commission is terminated effective immediately. Thank you for your service.” The next day, on May 9, Hoehn-Saric was apparently stopped by security when he was trying to enter the CPSC offices. Acting Chair Feldman then informed him that President Trump terminated him, effectively immediately, without providing any reason.
President Trump’s actions and this lawsuit come only months after the Supreme Court declined to hear a case on this exact issue. As we explained in a previous post, the Court declined to hear a challenge that would have asked it to overturn longstanding precedent in Humphrey’s Executor v. Federal Trade Commission, 295 U.S. 602 (1935), by evaluating whether the president should have the authority to remove appointed CPSC commissioners at will or for cause only. Plaintiffs were various educational organizations focused on product safety issues, and they alleged that CPSC’s structure violates Article II of the Constitution and the separation of powers by insulating commissioners from removal. In 2022, the district court issued a declaratory judgment holding that CPSC’s restriction on removal of commissioners violates Article II. The Fifth Circuit reversed, finding the CPSC structure constitutional.
President Trump’s termination of the three Democratic CPSC commissioners would face an uphill battle under current precedent. But in recent years, the Supreme Court has broken from longstanding precedent in decisions that have reined in the authority of federal agencies, so it is likely others will push the Court to take up this issue again soon.
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