President Trump has moved to fire three of the five members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which monitors the safety of products like toys, cribs and electronics, a White House official and the three members confirmed on Friday.
It is the latest of the administration’s efforts to purge perceived dissenters from independent agencies that is likely to end up in court. In statements, the three commissioners, all Democrats, asserted their removals were illegal. One had yet to receive formal notice on Friday, but said he was barred from performing his duties.
The members, Mary T. Boyle, Richard L. Trumka Jr. and Alexander Hoehn-Saric, said in separate statements released Friday that they were targeted for votes they cast to stop the import of poorly made lithium-ion batteries and objecting to staffing cuts.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, defended their dismissals by asserting on Friday that Mr. Trump had not overstepped his authority because the congressionally created commission operates within the executive branch.
“Who’s the head of the executive branch? The president of the United States,” she said. “He has the right to fire people within the executive branch. Pretty simple answer.”
In a statement titled “See you in court,” Mr. Trumka said he received word on Thursday night that he was dismissed, days after he had voted to advance a solution to the deadly lithium-ion battery issue and hours after he opposed two staffers from the Department of Government Efficiency, the initiative run by Elon Musk, from detailing to the agency.
Mr. Trumka said he had also vehemently opposed any staff cuts at the agency.
“I made it clear that I was a roadblock to the administration’s plan to fire civil servants at the C.P.S.C. who work to keep you safe every day,” Mr. Trumka wrote.
In her statement, Ms. Boyle said that she supported the lithium-ion standards. Her vote to advance them, she said, “rejected the delay tactics of this administration which has put in place a so-called regulatory freeze and a byzantine process” that requires the White House to review proposed safety standards in advance.
She also said she was fired the day after she “spoke out forcefully and unequivocally against efforts to strip the agency of qualified professionals whose work ensures that consumers can have confidence in the products they buy.”
Mr. Hoehn-Saric said in his statement that, while he had yet to receive official word from the White House, the acting chair of the commission had prevented him from executing his duties on Friday “based on an assertion that the president is also seeking my removal.” His name was already listed among former commissioners on the agency’s website.
Mr. Hoehn-Saric said that he, too, had supported the proposed battery rule, citing the importation of poorly made lithium-ion batteries that have been responsible for deadly e-bike and e-scooter fires across the country.
“The illegal attempt to remove me from the C.P.S.C. happened immediately after my colleagues and I took steps to advance our safety work and protect our staff from arbitrary firings,” Mr. Hoehn-Saric said. “President Trump’s action politicizes a critical independent public safety agency that was structured by law to avoid such interference.”
Erica L. Green is a White House correspondent, covering President Trump and his administration.
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