Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, the plaintiff in the lawsuit being considered by the Supreme Court on Monday, spent almost seven years on the Federal Trade Commission before she was removed by President Trump in March.
Ms. Slaughter, a Democrat, was appointed to the commission by Mr. Trump during his first term in 2018. She had previously served as an aide to Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader.
Ms. Slaughter briefly became the F.T.C.’s acting chair after former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. took office in 2021. During her time in the top job, the agency brought a lawsuit challenging a biotech company’s purchase of a start-up that developed tests to detect cancer.
The case against the company, which tested whether antitrust laws could be applied to nascent parts of the economy, resulted in a long legal battle. It ended with a legal victory for the F.T.C., and the biotech company agreed to divest the start-up in 2023.
Mr. Trump removed Ms. Slaughter from her post in March alongside a second Democrat on the commission, Alvaro Bedoya. The pair sued to challenge their dismissal.
Mr. Bedoya resigned from the agency in June, citing his inability to forfeit an income while the case moved forward. In July, a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed his claims as a result.
David McCabe is a Times reporter who covers the complex legal and policy issues created by the digital economy and new technologies.
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