A US appeals court granted the Trump administration’s request to temporarily freeze an order requiring it to reinstate FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, preventing the Democrat from returning to the federal agency.

The ruling upholds protections afforded to officers of the "quasi legislative or quasi judicial agencies" created by Congress.

A federal judge has restored a Democrat to the Federal Trade Commission, ruling that President Donald Trump illegally fired her earlier this year in his efforts to exert control over independent agencies across the government.