WASHINGTON, July 17 — The Federal Trade Commission has a new tool in its enforcement shed: the ability to fire its own commissioners at will. The bottom line: the Supreme Court’s 2026 ruling in Trump v. Slaughter determined the president may fire independent commissioners at will, ending a century of protection that had insulated FTC members from removal except for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” That shift reshapes the legal foundation of an agency Congress created in 1914 to police monopolies.
By the numbers, the FTC is a five-commissioner body. Members are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, serving seven-year terms.
No more than three commissioners can belong to the same political party. The chair serves at the president’s pleasure; Commissioner Andrew N. Ferguson has held that role since January 2025.
The agency’s principal mission is enforcement of civil antitrust law and consumer protection, sharing jurisdiction over federal civil antitrust enforcement with the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Its statutory authority is broad — the FTC has more surveillance and monitoring powers than it actually uses.
The FTC enforces provisions of the Clayton Act and the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 41 et seq., with regulations codified in Title 16 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The agency is headquartered in the Federal Trade Commission Building in Washington, D.C. A history of consumer protection The FTC’s consumer protection work has evolved over decades. In 1984, the agency began regulating the funeral home industry through the FTC Funeral Rule, which requires funeral homes to provide a General Price List (GPL) outlining goods and services.
The rule was designed to protect consumers from deceptive practices. In 1996, the FTC instituted the Funeral Rule Offenders Program, or FROP, under which funeral homes make voluntary payments to the U.S. Treasury or an appropriate state fund. More recently, the FTC has turned its attention to AI-generated listings in housing.
This represents a new application of the agency’s consumer protection authority. The enforcement targets false or misleading property listings created using artificial intelligence. What to watch The Trump v.
Slaughter ruling changes the political calculus for every commissioner. With removal protections stripped away, the president now holds direct leverage over the agency’s five members. How that dynamic plays out in upcoming antitrust and consumer protection cases — including the new AI-housing enforcement push — will be the story to follow.
