Trump Wants To Replace FTC Chair Whom He Can't Replace, Because The FTC Is Reluctant To Go After Trump's Social Media Enemies

A few weeks back we wrote about how FTC chair Joe Simons -- while bizarrely complaining about Section 230 blocking his investigations, despite it never actually doing that -- was actually willing to say that Trump's executive order on social media was nonsense (though not in those words). While the FCC caved and moved forward with its nonsense exploration of Section 230, the FTC has done nothing, because there's nothing for it to actually do.

And apparently our narcissist in chief is upset about that. Politico reports that the White House has been interviewing possible replacements for Simons because they want someone who will punish Trump's mythical list of enemies among social media companies (even as those companies have bent over backwards to accommodate his nonsense):

The White House is searching for a replacement for Federal Trade Commission Chair Joe Simons, a Republican who has publicly resisted President Donald Trump's efforts to crack down on social media companies, four people with knowledge of the discussions said.

Well, see, there's going to be a bit of a problem with "replacing" him like that. Simons' term runs through 2024, and while Trump likes to think he can fire whoever he wants in the federal government, there was a big famous case about that, Humphrey's Executor v. United States in which the Supreme Court said pretty clearly that the President can't fire FTC commissioners. You can read that decision here. I assure you the President has not.

That doesn't mean the administration can't try to put loads of pressure on Simons. It likely will. And while I don't always agree with Simons, I would hope that he would resist the Trump administration trying to interfere in the job of an independent agency like the FTC. The FCC has already shown that its leadership has little backbone on this front, but it would be nice if the FTC actually brushed this nonsense aside like it brushed aside the executive order.