The agency’s former chairman, Alex Hoehn-Saric, who was also fired, said Friday that “Trump is attempting to illegally remove me from the CPSC” along with his colleagues Mary Boyle and Richard L. Trumka Jr., the latter of whom ignited controversy in 2023 over weighing a ban on gas stoves.

The White House confirmed the firings to the Washington Examiner.

The CPSC evaluates the safety of everyday consumer products.

“Last night, my Democratic colleagues received an email from the White House purporting to fire them from their positions,” Hoehn-Saric said in a statement. “While I have received no communications from the White House, the Acting Chair is preventing me from executing my duties as Commissioner based on an assertion that the President is also seeking my removal. The President’s action is unlawful and is part of this Administration’s efforts to eliminate federal agencies, personnel, and policies that have made Americans safer.”

Hoehn-Saric said Trump can only remove him for “malfeasance or neglect of duty” and added that the president could not “credibly accuse me of such behavior.”

The other two Democratic commissioners said they would serve out their terms despite the ordered firings.

“I have a set term on this independent, bipartisan Commission that does not expire until October of 2028, and I will continue protecting the American people from harm through that time,” Trumka wrote in a statement. “The President would like to end this nation’s long history of independent agencies, so he’s chosen to ignore the law and pretend independence doesn’t exist. I’ll see him in court.”

Trumka said he does not know why he was fired but suggested it was because he voted to make flammable lithium-ion batteries safe.

I was illegally fired for standing up for the American people. pic.twitter.com/xYsorgU3qo

— Commissioner Rich Trumka Jr. (@TrumkaCPSC) May 9, 2025

Boyle reflected some of the same thought.

“Until my term as commissioner concludes,” Boyle said in a statement, “I will insist on following these time-tested principles, and I will use my voice to speak out on behalf of safety.”

The moves appear to follow the Trump administration’s continued assault on independent agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board. The administration also went after the Federal Election Commission, the independent elections board.

Hoehn-Saric said terminations at the agency are “not necessary.”

“The funding recently approved by Congress and the President is sufficient to maintain our current staffing levels and to fill critical vacancies,” he said in the statement, adding that they are “operating with approximately 30 employees fewer than our funding levels allow.”

He said not filling gaps in the agency and firing employees will “inevitably result in emergency room visits or deaths that could and should have been avoided.”

Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) said the firings were not only unconstitutional but also endanger families.

“The CPSC safeguards our children from unsafe toys and dangerous cribs,” Markey said in a post on X. “Undermining this agency puts lives at risk.”

Consumer Reports, an organization that tests products to inform consumers, condemned the firings of the Democratic members of the CPSC and called on Congress to act in a statement shared with the Washington Examiner.

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“This is an appalling and lawless attack on the independence of our country’s product safety watchdog,” William Wallace, director of safety advocacy for Consumer Reports, told the Washington Examiner. “Anyone who cares about keeping their family safe should oppose this move and demand that it be reversed. Today’s Congress must step up to defend the agency, reject this power grab, and reaffirm that our laws actually mean what they say on the page.”

Trump will have the power to create a Republican majority at the CPSC with the firings if the board members eventually relent or are forced to.