‘The law is crystal clear:’ Federal consumer safety watchdogs reinstated to jobs as commissioners
District court judge rules that President Trump’s actions were unlawful
(InvestigateTV) — Shortly after a federal judge in Maryland on Friday ruled that President Donald J. Trump lacked the authority to fire three commissioners from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Richard J. Trumka Jr. was in his car and off to work again.
“My reaction the second I finished reading that order was to get in the car and start driving to my office to get back to work keeping the American people safe,” Trumka told InvestigateTV in a phone interview.
Trumka was one of the three commissioners terminated by the Trump istration in mid-May. All three were appointed to their posts by President Joe Biden and were abruptly fired after clashing over agency cuts and safety priorities.
But U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Maddox ordered that Commissioners Trumka, Mary Boyle and Alexander Hoehn-Saric be reinstated.
“The Court finds as a matter of law that the President’s purported removal of Plaintiffs from their positions as SC Commissioners absent ‘neglect of duty or malfeasance in office’ was unlawful,” Maddox wrote in his 31-page opinion.
The judge, a Biden appointee, further wrote that depriving the SC of its full five-member commission “threatens severe impairment of its ability to fulfill its statutory mandates and advance the public’s interest in safe consumer products. This hardship and threat to public safety significantly outweighs any hardship Defendants might suffer from Plaintiffs’ participation on the SC.”
The order further restricts SC acting chairman Peter A. Feldman, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and budget director Russell Vought from barring the commissioners and their staffs from agency offices, resources, email s, among other things - or withholding their pay and benefits.
The decision also reinstates staff who worked directly for the three terminated commissioners.
The commissioners’ attorney praised the outcome of the case.
“Today’s opinion reaffirms that the President is not above the law. Congress structured the SC as an independent agency so that the safety of American consumers wouldn’t be subject to political whims and industry pressure,” attorney Nick Sansone said in a written statement. “The court’s ruling upholds that sound legislative choice. We are thrilled that our clients can get back to work keeping us safe from hazardous products.”
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Consumer advocates, who have been vocal in their opposition to the firings, praised the decision.
“This ruling is a victory for American families, especially children, because so much of the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s work has safeguarded infants and young kids,” said Courtney Griffin, Director of Consumer Product Safety at the Consumer Federation of America. “The SC was designed to operate independently so that decisions about dangerous products are based on science and safety, not politics. Today’s ruling is a powerful reminder that our safety, and the safety of our children, must never be politicized. American families deserve and rightly expect safe products.”
They feared – as did the three commissioners and others - that key safety rules would be abandoned as the Trump istration pushes for deregulation in the federal government. The SC was created by Congress in 1972 as an independent federal regulator.
Since taking office in January, Trump has issued more than 370 executive orders, with some meant to curtail government spending, oversight and regulation.
At the SC, the agency works with manufacturers, consumer advocates, medical professionals and others to craft safety standards for products that have a defect that could lead to harm – or that have already injured or killed Americans.
InvestigateTV reported earlier in June that key safety rules for infant rockers and neck pillows, aerosol dusters, portable generators, lithium-ion batteries and other products that had been linked to thousands of injuries and deaths were in limbo because of the terminations.
The commissioners feared that without their say-so, the agency would continue to slash employees.
The judge noted that during their absence, Boyle, Hoehn-Saric and Trumka were “prevented from voting on Acting Chairman Feldman’s proposed plan for reductions in force at the SC, which Plaintiffs believe will aggravate existing understaffing issues and compromise the Commission’s ability to function.”
The judge also wrote that in the month since the terminations, the SC has stalled the progress of safety rules and canceled budgetary and planning meetings.
Trumka told InvestigateTV that his first order of business was to start making up for lost time.
“We need to make sure that the priorities hearing gets undertaken very quickly so we can hear what the public wants us to be working on. We need to make sure the midyear hearing gets rescheduled so that we can figure out where we are, allocate our resources, and we need to make sure that we are protecting our workforce so that they can be keeping Americans safe,” he said.
If there are no other legal challenges, Trump will have the opportunity to replace each commissioner as their expire. Boyle’s seat comes open in October.
Hoehn-Saric’s term ends in 2027 and Trumka’s the following year. Trumka intends to serve as SC commissioner until then.
“The law is crystal clear,” he said. “And if you read the opinion today, it was crystal clear for the judge. So until the law changes, we will be right where we’re at.”
The SC did not immediately respond to InvestigateTV’s request for comment.
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