By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration dismissed three Democrats on the five-member Consumer Product Safety Commission, a White House official confirmed Friday.
The three Democratic commissioners said the firings were illegal. The CPSC issues product recalls to address safety concerns across a wide range of areas to protect consumers from defective and dangerous products.
Asked about the CPSC firings and whether the administration cared about keeping unsafe toys and cribs off the market, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a briefing: “He has the right to fire people within the executive branch.”
The CPSC works with consumers and companies to find hazards. It inspects products, writes safety rules and will go to court if companies do not ensure safe products.
Richard Trumka, one of the Democratic commissioners fired by the Trump administration, said members of Elon Musk’s DOGE team on Thursday visited CPSC to join as detailees to the agency.
Trumka said he declined “because if these people are allowed in to govern our agency, they will gut it and the result will turn back the clock on product safety.” He said he was supported by the other Democrats on the commission and the White House opted to seek to fire him.
Trumka said the firing was illegal because they can only be removed for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office but not for
any other cause. His term does not expire until October 2028.
“The president would like to end this nation’s long history of independent agencies, so he’s chosen to ignore the law,” Trumka said.
Democratic Commissioner Mary Boyle noted that the commission last week backed a proposed standard to add safety protections to dangerous lithium-ion batteries, noting that faulty batteries in ebikes, e-scooters, and other micromobility devices have caused intense, rapidly spreading deadly fires.
This is the latest in a string of firings by the White House.
On Monday, the White House dismissed Alvin Brown, the vice chair of the National Transportation Safety Board.
Since January, President Donald Trump has fired two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission and members of the National Labor Relations Board, Merit Systems Protection Board and Federal Election Commission among others. Many of those firings have been challenged in court.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Diane Craft)
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