Trumka Jr. Plans to Challenge Consumer Safety Panel Removal (1)

Richard Trumka Jr. got notice that President Donald Trump is firing him from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, a move that the son of a former labor union leader said he’ll challenge in court as violating the agency’s independence.

Trumka—whose late father Richard Trumka was president of the AFL-CIO—plans to sue to block his removal and serve out his seven-year term through October 2028, he said Friday in a statement posted to social media. The president also is attempting to fire the other two Democratic members of the CPSC, according to a statement released by Alexander Hoehn-Saric, one of those members and the commission’s former chair.

Trump’s attempt to fire the safety commissioners mirrors similar removals of independent commission and board members such as Democratic appointees to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the National Labor Relations Board. Those members also have challenged Trump in court, with varying degrees of success.

A challenge to the president’s removal of NLRB and Merit Systems Protection Board members is pending at the Supreme Court.

The federal law creating the CPSC says commissioners can be removed before the end of their terms “for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office but for no other cause,” Trumka said. The language is similar to the statute dealing with NLRB members, although some other commissions such as the EEOC lack such explicit removal protections.

Trumka said the email purporting to fire him didn’t give a reason for his removal. He said Trump’s decision was likely motivated by his efforts to oppose cuts to the federal workforce within the CPSC and his vote to advance a safety standard regarding lithium ion batteries.

Biden appointed Trumka to the CPSC in 2021. He previously worked as general counsel for a US House subcommittee overseeing investigations into e-cigarettes and baby food safety and also has worked as assistant attorney general of Maryland and a private practice attorney.

As of May 9, the CPSC website lists Hoehn-Saric, Trumka, and the third Democratic member Mary T. Boyle as past commissioners.

Acting Chairman Peter A. Feldman said Trump acted lawfully under both the Constitution and the Consumer Product Safety Act in removing the three members. Trump nominated Feldman to the commission during his first term as president.

“CPSC remains committed to our important safety mission: protecting American consumers from the unreasonable risk of injury associated with consumer products,” Feldman said in an email to CPSC staff that the agency provided to Bloomberg Law.

Feldman and fellow Republican Douglas Dziak are the sole remaining commissioners, if Trump’s removals withstand court challenges.

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.