President Trump Terminates Democratic Members of FTC, Throwing Into Question Commission’s Next Steps on PBMs

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On March 18, President Trump informed the two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)—Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya—that he was terminating their membership. This may impact the FTC’s investigation into the actions of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). After dismissing FTC Chair Lina Khan and installing Andrew Ferguson as chairman in January, this latest action leaves only two remaining commissioners: Ferguson and Melissa Holyoak, both Republicans.

It remains unclear what these terminations may mean for the FTC’s work on PBMs, which was largely spearheaded by Khan. In September, the FTC an administrative complaint against the three largest PBMs alleging “anticompetitive and unfair rebating practices.” The complaint focused specifically on insulin prices and was filed after a vote that garnered support from the three Democratic commissioners, while the two Republican commissioners were recused since both were previously involved in litigation against those PBMs in roles in state attorneys general’s offices.

While the suit against the PBMs has continued over the past months, there is now a pending before the FTC requesting that a hearing originally scheduled for August be pushed until January 2026 given the PBMs’ alleged delay in providing documentation pertaining to the case. Since the two remaining commissioners were recused from the original vote, there are no commissioners to rule on the motion. Though President Trump has nominated a third Republican commissioner—Mark Meador—he has not yet been confirmed by the Senate.

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