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President Donald Trump on Thursday fired three members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the agency that creates safety requirements and issues recalls for consumer products, the commissioners said in statements.
The move comes as the Trump administration is facing legal scrutiny over its efforts to permanently fire board members at independent agencies. All three fired CPSC commissioners – Richard Trumka Jr., Alexander Hoehn-Saric, and Mary Boyle – were nominated by former President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate. Trumka’s and Hoehn-Saric’s terms were due to end in 2027 while Boyle’s was due to end later this year.
Trumka said he received a visit from the Department of Government Efficiency on Thursday, alongside a request for approval to bring two DOGE members to the agency, which he didn’t allow. He got an email shortly thereafter telling him he had been fired.
“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,” reads the email, which CNN has obtained.
Trumka said the email didn’t explain why he was being fired.
“Of course, he did not give any reason why. However, it immediately follows me doing two things that this Administration is against: (1) advancing solutions to protect the American people from harm, and (2) stopping the illegal firing of scores of public servants who do lifesaving work,” Trumka said in a statement Friday.
Trumka has made it clear he plans on challenging the move in court, writing Trump “did not have the authority to fire me.”
“I have a set term on this independent, bipartisan Commission that does not expire until October of 2028, and I will continue protecting the American people from harm through that time,” Trumka wrote. “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.”
He warned that if his “illegal firing is allowed to stand, it will clear the way for the Administration and its lapdogs to cripple the lifesaving functions of this agency to benefit their wealthy donors.”
Hoehn-Saric was the chair of the commission until January, after which he became a commissioner. In a statement posted on social media, he described the terminations as “part of the Trump Administration’s ongoing attack on federal agencies and federal workers to the detriment of the American public.”
Boyle said in a statement that threats to the agency’s independence have come “fast and furious” since Trump’s inauguration, “halting our agenda and undermining our safety work – through countless exercises designed to distract our staff and instill in them fear for their livelihoods.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Friday defended Trump’s decision to fire the officials when asked about the dismissals.
“It’s a federal agency within which branch? It’s the executive branch. Who’s the head of the executive branch? The president of the United States. He has the right to fire people within the executive branch. It’s a pretty simple answer,” Leavitt said.
Consumer Reports, a nonprofit that helps consumers evaluate goods and services, condemned the move on Friday and called for Congress to defend CPSC.
“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,” said William Wallace, director of safety advocacy for Consumer Reports.
The Supreme Court is set to weigh in on whether the president has the authority to permanently fire board members at two similar independent agencies — the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board.
The commissioners are the latest public servants to be removed from their positions during Trump’s second term. The White House on Thursday notified Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden that she would be fired, while not making the reason for her removal immediately clear.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Betsy Klein contributed to this report.
