‘See you in court’: Consumer Product Safety Commission members say they are being fired by President Trump

Washington, D.C. (InvestigateTV) — President Donald Trump is attempting to rid the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission of its three commissioners who were appointed by former President Joe Biden.

But at least two of the targeted commissioners and some members of Congress have called the proposed action illegal.

On the CPSC website, Mary Boyle, Alexander Hoehn-Saric and Richard Trumka Jr. now are all listed under “Past Commissioners.”

“I am absolutely livid over this,” said Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat, who spoke at a news conference Friday with other members of Congress, parents and Commissioners Hoehn-Saric and Trumka. “We are going to fight back…This is a fight to the finish.”

“I am frankly appalled and outraged, but I’m not surprised,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat. “The Consumer Product Safety Commission has always been a threat to companies that put profits over people.”

“This is not ok,” said Janet McGee, who lost her son when a dresser tipped over. “Americans should be deeply concerned about this and what it means for the future of our families and our children.”

The CPSC is the federal government’s consumer watchdog, overseeing more than 15,000 household products from appliances to baby gear to toys to weed eaters.

On May 8, the deputy director of presidential personnel sent an email to Trumka at 6:48 p.m. The email, distributed to media after the news conference said, “On behalf of Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position on the Consumer Product Safety Commission is terminated effective immediately. Thank you for your service.”

At a White House press conference, press secretary Karoline Leavitt, responding to a reporter’s question about the CPSC said, “It’s a federal agency within which branch? It’s the executive branch. Who’s the head of the Executive Branch? The president of the United States. He has … the right to fire people within the executive branch. It’s pretty simple answer.

Hoehn-Saric and Trumka both vowed to fight the alleged firings.

“The administration’s actions are really a disservice to the American people and ignores the rule of law,” Hoehn-Saric said. “Since the start of the administration, the President has demanded that the CPSC, legally (an) independent agency, stop all regulations and cut staff without regard to the effect on product safety.”

He vowed to “fight my removal and continue to fight for the agency in the coming months.”

Trumka and Hoehn-Saric each posted statements on social media Friday about the administration’s actions, which included locking them out of the CPSC office and shutting of their phone and email accounts.

“President Trump tried to fire me,” Trumka said in a Facebook video. “Why? We’re the agency that tries to save babies’ lives.”

Trumka and Hoehn-Saric said that they and Boyle last Thursday declined to approve a move to “bring aboard” two people who represent the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, which visited the CPSC earlier in the day.

The notifications of terminations arrived soon after.

“If this agency is controlled and gutted by DOGE, everyday Americans won’t be able to trust the products they buy,” Trumka said.

Hoehn-Saric and Trumka both said that Trump lacks the authority to fire them.

“The President would like to end this nation’s long history of independent agencies, so he’s chosen to ignore the law and pretend independence doesn’t exist. I’ll see him in court,” Trumka said in his written statement. “CPSC’s lifesaving work is far too important to take this lying down.”

Hoehn-Saric posted a lengthy statement on X that read, in part, “The President’s action is unlawful and is part of this Administration’s efforts to eliminate federal agencies, personnel, and policies that have made Americans safer.”

“The Federal Law establishing the CPSC, which has stood for 50 years and is valid under Supreme Court precedent, states that Commissioners can only be removed for malfeasance or neglect of duty. The President cannot credibly accuse me of such behavior,” Hoehn-Saric continued.

He said that he had not been contacted by the White House but added that he has been prevented by the current acting chairman of the commission from doing his job based on the fact that Trump “is also seeking my removal.”

Commissioners are appointed by Presidents and face confirmation from the U.S. Senate. Hoehn-Saric was unanimously approved by the Senate in 2021. His term expires in 2027, as does Trumka’s.

Boyle’s term expires in October. She was confirmed in 2022.

For years, InvestigateTV has detailed the work of the CPSC, particularly its lack of authority to warn the public of imminent dangers and dangerous baby products, in a series called Defective.

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The CPSC was founded by Congress in 1972 to oversee the regulation and safety of household items. Most notably, the agency helps create safety standards, issues recalls for dangerous or hazardous products and monitors U.S. ports for items entering the country that don’t meet federal laws.

By comparison to other safety agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and the National Highway Safety Administration, the CPSC has operated on a much smaller budget. In fiscal year 2024, the CPSC had about $170 million in its budget.

Trumka said the CPSC still has much work do to prevent American deaths tied to carbon monoxide poisoning, button batteries, corded window blinds, water beads and infant neck pool floats, to name a few.

“CPSC’s lifesaving work is far too important to take this lying down,” Trumka wrote. “We stop products that could kill babies in their sleep, that could give kids lead poisoning, that could strangle older Americans.”

“If my illegal firing is allowed to stand, it will clear the way for the Administration and its lapdogs to cripple the lifesaving functions of this agency.”

During the Friday news conference, Sen. Blumenthal bristled at Leavitt’s comment made in the White House briefing about an hour beforehand, “The CPSC is not his agency, and he has no right to simply take it apart and violate the law in the way that he’s doing.”

He said that the way the President is attempting to eliminate the CPSC “runs exactly contrary to the intent of Congress, which can establish independent agencies.”

He sent a letter to Trump, calling the actions “a blatant partisan attack.”

Consumer advocates and parents whose stories have been chronicled by InvestigateTV condemned the proposed action by the White House.

Ashley Haugen, who efforts to ban water beads as toys, said she was shocked by the move.

“The CPSC was never supposed to be political. It’s supposed to be about protecting American families from unsafe products. Today, I’ve been flooded with messages from terrified parents who fear these firings will delay critical safety rules, yet again,” Haugen told InvestigateTV.

“My daughter Kipley nearly died because there have been so many delays getting water bead toy products off the market. She is scheduled to speak at the CPSC hearing next week and she painted rocks for each Commissioner to say thank you for their continued work on the issue. I don’t know how I’ll tell her that three of the people she believed were helping her protect other children have been taken away before they could finish their work.”

Nancy Cowles, who for decades advocated for safer baby products through the now-defunct Kids in Danger, reacted bluntly: “The illegal firing of agency leadership of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will drastically reduce the effectiveness of the consumer watchdog and leave our children vulnerable to unsafe products both old and new.”

Shayna Raphael, who turned the death of daughter a decade ago in an unsafe sleep environment into advocacy, said that the safety of children should not be subjected to politics.

“The President’s illegal attempt to remove certain independent commissioners from CPSC is a direct and political attack on the safety of infants and families. Commissioner Trumka has worked alongside grieving parents like me, fighting to ensure babies are sleeping safely and that no other family has to experience the same devastating loss. His leadership, along with the other commissioners Trump is targeting, has strengthened safety standards and prevented countless deaths and injuries,” Raphael told InvestigateTV.

“For this administration to go after those who fight to protect children—purely for political reasons—is unimaginable. We already live in a world where far too many products prioritize corporate profits over consumer safety, and this decision will only make it worse. The safety of Americans, especially infants and children, should never be a political bargaining chip, but that’s exactly what this is."

The CPSC did not respond to InvestigateTV’s requests for comment.

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