In a dramatic shake-up at the Consumer Product Safety Committee (CPSC), President Trump has ousted three of its five commissioners, leaving the agency with distinctly Republican leadership. Commissioners Richard Trumka, Mary Boyle, and Alexander Hoehn-Saric, all Democrats, have been shown the door, while Commissioner Douglas Dziak and Chairman Peter Feldman remain to steer the ship. This bold move makes the already-questionable future of CPSC even more uncertain, setting the stage for potential shifts in consumer safety oversight.
The firing comes shortly after a recently leaked draft of the fiscal year 2026 budget for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) revealed that the Trump administration might be poised to eliminate CPSC entirely. The “pre-decisional” budget drafted by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) contemplates drastic reorganization plans for HHS, including eliminating CPSC and integrating its functions into the Office of the Secretary within HHS.
In separate statements released on May 9, the fired CPSC commissioners said that they were targeted for votes that they cast to stop the import of poorly made lithium-ion batteries and for objections to staffing cuts.
During an interview with CBS News, Commissioner Trumka asserted, “On Wednesday, we had a public commission meeting, where we said there’s no financial reason, no logical reason, to get rid of anyone at our agency, because their lifesaving work is too important to compromise. . . And just the next day, DOGE was in our building. They asked if we would allow them to implant at our agency. They asked for our answer to that by 6 p.m. We said ‘no.’ And moments later, we were fired by email from the president.”
In his May 9 statement, Commissioner Hoehn-Saric expressed, “President Trump’s action politicizes a critical independent public safety agency that was structured by law to avoid such interference.” Hoehn-Saric also criticized “the president’s action” as “unlawful” and “part of this Administration’s efforts to eliminate federal agencies, personnel, and policies that have made Americans safer.”
Commissioner Hoehn-Saric has alleged that the firing is unlawful under the law that established CPSC. As we explained in a previous blog post, under CPSC’s current structure, the president of the United States can remove CPSC commissioners from office only for neglect of duty or malfeasance. The Supreme Court recently declined to hear a challenge to CPSC’s structure, which would have presented the question of whether the president should have the authority to remove appointed CPSC commissioners at will or for cause only. Unless the Supreme Court decides to hear a challenge presenting a similar question, CPSC commissioners can only be removed “for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office” under the Supreme Court’s longstanding precedent in Humphrey’s Executor v. Federal Trade Commission, 295 U.S. 602 (1935).
When asked about the recent firings at CPSC during a press briefing on May 9, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that, as the head of the executive branch, the president “has the right to fire people within the executive branch.”
With the firing of CPSC commissioners and the potential elimination of CPSC, businesses should closely monitor developments and prepare to adapt to potential shifts in regulatory priorities and enforcement policies. Companies may need to reassess their compliance strategies to navigate the evolving landscape and maintain adherence to consumer safety regulations. We will continue to monitor these developments and provide updates.
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