Fired FTC commissioners seek to fast-track case over dismissal

(Reuters) - Two Democratic commissioners at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission sought on Friday to expedite their lawsuit challenging their firing by President Donald Trump, saying the move was blatantly illegal under 90 years of U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter sought expedited treatment of their case, saying U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington has everything she needs to decide the case now.

Trump did exactly what the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President Franklin D. Roosevelt could not do in 1935: Fire an FTC commissioner over a political disagreement, the commissioners said.

A spokesperson for the FTC did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson has previously said he agrees Trump has the constitutional authority to remove commissioners and the agency will continue its work.

The case is one of several challenging Trump's firing of members of bipartisan independent agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board.

The FTC is currently led by three Republicans. The agency has at times in the past lacked representation from one party or the other.

What is different now is Trump's de facto control of the agency by claiming he can fire the commissioners over disagreements, Bedoya and Slaughter said.

(Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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