Supreme Court decision could impact consumer safety

American consumers should care about a major Supreme Court decision on June 29 because it has ramifications on their consumer protections, including safety, several consumer advocates said.

The Supreme Court upheld the March 2025 firing of a Democratic Federal Trade Commission member by President Donald Trump.

The high court ruling takes the power to fire leaders of independent agencies away from Congress and gives it to the president and so could dramatically change how more than a dozen agencies operate, as previously reported by USA TODAY.

That includes the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), where Trump tried to fire the three Democrats among the five commissioners in May 2025.

Why does a Supreme Court decision matter to consumers?

The decision risks "turning independent consumer protection agencies into political pawns," said Emily Peterson-Cassin, director of competition and market fairness at the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) in a statement provided to USA TODAY.

"When the experts charged with policing fraud, protecting competition, and standing up to powerful corporations can be removed at will, consumers lose an important safeguard against abuse," Peterson-Cassin said.

But others applauded the ruling.

Margot Cleveland, of counsel at the right-leaning NCLA, said "the Supreme Court's decision today in Slaughter represents a huge victory for our constitutional republic. By expressly overturning Humphrey's Executor and returning to a faithful interpretation of separation of powers, the Court's decision in Slaughter ensures that federal agencies remain answerable to the Executive—and in turn the American people who elected the President.”

What was the Supreme Court ruling about the FTC?

In a decision that overturns a 90-year-old precedent, the Supreme Court said limits that Congress placed on a president’s ability to remove members of the Federal Trade Commission encroached on presidential power. The 6-3 decision broke along ideological lines.

The FTC enforces a variety of antitrust and consumer protection laws affecting virtually every area of commerce.

Trump asked the court to overturn Humphrey's Executor v. United States, a 1935 decision upholding removal restrictions for leaders of multimember administrative agencies. The court has been chipping away at that decision since 2010.

After taking office again in 2025, Trump said all federal agencies were under his control. In March 2025, the president fired the two Democratic members of the five-member Federal Trade Commission board, Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya.

Bedoya initially joined Slaughter's legal challenge but eventually withdrew. He released a statement on June 29 calling the Supreme Court "a billionaire's fan club," which is allowing corporations to hurt people and deny people their day in court.

"The only people who will win from this ruling are the President's billionaire golfing buddies. And at the Supreme Court, this is par for the course,” Bedoya said.

Fate of CPSC commissioners likely tied to FTC ruling

The firings of three U.S. CPSC commissioners in May 2025 will likely stay in place in the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling, a consumer advocate said.

It is CFA's understanding that the CPSC "firings were going to be decided by this case,'' said Courtney Griffin, director of consumer product safety at CFA, in a statement provided to USA TODAY.  "Those firings will stand because this (FTC) firing has stood."

The ruling will have perilous consequences, Griffin said. "Today's decision does more than undermine one agency. It completely reshapes our government, and that includes the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the watchdog that guards against dangerous products that injure and kill," she said.

Alexandra Reeve Givens, president and CEO of left-leaning CDT, echoed those concerns. Trumps' "administration has made no effort to hide its desire to use the levers of government authority to strongarm and intimidate political enemies. The Supreme Court has taken down one of the key barriers stopping them.”

But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previously told reporters that Trump could fire any staffers who were part of the executive branch.

“He has the right to fire people within the executive branch,” Leavitt said on May 9. “It’s a pretty simple answer.”

Maureen Groppe contributed to this report.

Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] or follow her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher and @blinfisher.bsky.social on Bluesky. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which breaks down complex consumer and financial news. Subscribe here. Reach Rachel Barber at [email protected], follow her on X @rachelbarber_, and subscribe to her newsletter "Making More of Your Money" here.