WASHINGTON >> President Donald Trump fired two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday, intensifying efforts to exert his administration’s control over independent agencies across the government.

Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter both released statements saying they’d been dismissed illegally.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. But removing Bedoya and Slaughter potentially frees up more space on the five-member FTC for new commissioners loyal to the White House and its policies.

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson released a statement on Twitter late Tuesday saying he had no doubts about Trump’s “constitutional authority to remove Commissioners, which is necessary to ensure democratic accountability.”

The FTC is a regulator created by Congress that enforces consumer protection measures and antitrust legislation. Its seats are typically comprised of three members of the president’s party and two from the opposing party.

Commissioners are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. They serve seven-year terms that are staggered to prevent multiple vacancies at once.

The ousted commissioners pointed to past Supreme Court rulings that sought to solidify the body’s independence and only allowed commissioners to be removed for cause.

“The president just illegally fired me. This is corruption plain and simple,” Bedoya, who was appointed in 2021 by President Joe Biden and confirmed in May 2022, posted on X.

He added, “The FTC is an independent agency founded 111 years ago to fight fraudsters and monopolists” but now “the president wants the FTC to be a lapdog for his golfing buddies.”