Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya, the two Democrats on the Federal Trade Commission, said they were 'illegally' fired Tuesday.

The firings drew criticism from Democratic senators concerned that the move was designed to remove opposition within the agency to big corporations.

President Trump has fired both of the Federal Trade Commission’s Democratic commissioners, setting up a legal battle that will have major implications for a key bipartisan regulatory agency traditionally seen as independent from the executive branch.