U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, joined Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) to lead 23 additional members of Congress in filing an amicus brief defending the independence of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and supporting Congress’s authority to allow removal of CPSC Commissioners only for cause.  

“For 53 years, the bipartisan, independent CPSC has put consumer safety first,” said Sen. Cantwell. “Now, President Trump has put politics first by illegally firing the three Democratic CPSC Commissioners. By injecting politics where it doesn’t belong, the President is undermining the safety of children, seniors, and everyone else. I’m proud to stand with Congressional Democrats in pushing back against this illegal and partisan power grab.”

The amicus brief makes four key arguments in support of an independent CPSC and placing restrictions on the President’s authority to remove CPSC Commissioners. First, since the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, Congress has exercised its power to condition the President’s removal authority, and the courts have affirmed the power on numerous occasions. Second, in the 90 years since Humphrey’s Executor held that for-cause removal protection for multimember commissioners is constitutional, Congress has created over 30 multimember independent agencies with no controversy from the president or the courts.

Third, precedent and practice fully support Congress’s power to create multimember commissioners with removal protections in reliance on Humphrey’s Executor. Fourth, the independence of the CPSC from political pressure is critical to its ability to fulfill its mission and protect consumers from harm. As the brief states, this independence reflects “Congress’s intent to ensure the integrity and vigilance of the CPSC by safeguarding the CPSC’s independence through removal protections for its members.”

Sen. Cantwell has been a leading voice in denouncing the attacks on the CPSC and defending the agency. On May 22, 2025, she demanded answers from CPSC Acting Chairman Peter Feldman on plans to eliminate the Commission and move its functions to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). On May 9, 2025, along with Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), she called on President Trump to immediately reverse the firing of the CPSC’s three Democratic Commissioners, Commissioner Hoehn-Saric, Commissioner Trumka, and Commissioner Boyle. 

Along with Senators Cantwell, Klobuchar, Blumenthal and Rep. Wasserman Schultz, the brief was filed by Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Representatives Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-Ga.), Robin K. Kelly (D-Ill.), Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.), Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.), Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) and Norma Torres (D-Calif.). 

The full amicus brief is available HERE.

###