7.23.25
In a dissenting opinion against the Supreme Court's decision on Wednesday to allow President Donald Trump to remove Democratic members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Justice Elena Kagan wrote that the conservative majority has "all but overturned" a landmark 1935 case. The CPSC works to protect people from dangerous products and "unreasonable risk of injuries associated with consumer products" by issuing recalls, enforcing standards, banning products and suing noncompliant companies. The three terminated Democratic commissioners were nominated by former President Joe Biden and set to serve seven-year terms. The CPSC board is composed of five people, and requires a partisan split. The case Kagan refers to in her dissent, Humphrey's Executor v. United States, established that the president cannot fire independent board members without cause. The three CPSC commissioners had previously been fired by Trump in May, then reinstated by a federal judge. However, following that decision, the Justice Department filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, claiming that the agency fell under Trump's control and he can remove them without cause. The High Court on Wednesday granted the stay application, allowing Trump to oust the commissioners. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, wrote in an X post Wednesday: "The CPSC assures that families & children, homes & businesses, are protected from defective, dangerous products. Dismantling this independent, bipartisan agency—as Trump seeks—is a dire disservice."