Washington, D.C.

Trump Fired Slaughter .. and Exposed the Real Problem: The Bureaucrats Who Rule Us

When President Trump fired Rebecca Kelly Slaughter from the FTC, the media acted like a constitutional crisis had just begun. They scolded him for attacking “independence” and violating “norms.” But here’s the real crisis: Why do unelected regulators have the power to govern us in the first place? The Federal Trade Commission is a perfect example of what has gone wrong in America. It is an agency whose leaders the public never votes for, whose policies citizens never approve, and whose power is shielded from the one office the people do elect. The President is accountable to voters; FTC commissioners are accountable to no one but themselves and the permanent bureaucracy.

Trump didn’t just fire a regulator; he ripped the mask off an entire shadow government.

These Agencies Aren’t Constitutional. They’re a Workaround

The Founders wrote a Constitution with three branches of government.

But today we live under a fourth: the administrative state.

The FTC:
• writes rules like Congress
• prosecutes violators like the DOJ
• judges outcomes like a court

All while being insulated from elections and from presidential control.

That’s not checks and balances.

That’s concentrated power behind closed doors.

These Bureaucracies Hurt Real People. Every. Single. Day.

This isn’t just a Washington issue. New Yorkers know what uncontrolled government agencies do:
• The NYC Department of Buildings can shut down a business overnight and bury property owners under endless fines — no vote, no accountability.
• The MTA imposes fare fines, sets rules, and raises rates without taxpayer consent, even while failing to provide safe, reliable service.
• NYCHA, the public housing authority, mismanages buildings while tenants are powerless to remove those in charge.
• The Department of Education forces policies onto millions of children that parents never approved and cannot change.

Regular citizens feel the power of bureaucracy more than they feel the power of Congress. Unelected agencies:
• make rules
• enforce rules
• punish you for breaking rules

And you never get a say.

The FTC Is Just the Tip of the Spear

If the President cannot remove those who govern us, then we no longer live under self-government. Trump’s firing of Slaughter wasn’t an “attack on democracy”; it was the first defense of democracy we’ve seen in decades. Why should an agency:
• no voter created,
• no voter controls,
• and no voter can abolish...be able to strangle American businesses and reshape entire industries?

Time for Accountability. Time to Break the Bureaucracy.

If we believe in government of the people, by the people, for the people —
then the power must flow through elected leaders, not unaccountable regulators. Slaughter’s firing should spark the real conversation:

If the FTC only survives by denying democratic accountability, maybe it shouldn’t survive at all.

The same goes for every agency that has forgotten who it serves. Americans didn’t sign up to be ruled by bureaucrats.

It’s time to restore constitutional government and put the people back in charge.

References

• The Constitution of the United States
• Federal Trade Commission Act
• Founding Era Writings on Separation of Powers
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Photo by ANTONI SHKRABA production: