Trump taps Andrew Ferguson to replace Lina Khan as Federal Trade Commission chairman
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While a second Trump administration may be friendlier to business tie-ups, it is likely to keep up the aggressive pursuit of antitrust cases targeting big tech companies.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON – US President-elect Donald Trump has selected Mr Andrew Ferguson, a Republican member of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), to serve as the agency’s chairman, a politically charged role currently held by Ms Lina Khan.
“Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country,” Trump said in a statement posted to his Truth Social network on Dec 10. “Andrew will be the most America First, and pro-innovation FTC Chair in our Country’s History.”
Mr Ferguson, one of two Republicans at the five-member antitrust and consumer protection agency, joined the FTC in April. Before that, he served as Virginia’s solicitor general, representing the state in key lawsuits.
As an FTC commissioner, Mr Ferguson has dissented from several of Ms Khan’s rulemaking efforts, including a ban on non-compete clauses in employment contracts and rules to make it easier to cancel subscriptions.
The FTC is one of two enforcers, alongside the Justice Department’s antitrust division, tasked with overseeing federal competition law and policy. It is the country’s leading consumer protection agency and de facto tech regulator, going after digital privacy abuses, advertising fraud and other deceptive conduct.
The two share jurisdiction over reviewing mergers and investigating and acting against companies across the economy for monopolistic practices.
Under President Joe Biden, they faced intense criticism from much of corporate America for hindering dealmaking.
At the same time, Ms Khan and her Justice Department counterpart Jonathan Kanter were lauded by progressives such as Senator Elizabeth Warren, as well as some on the far right such as Vice President-elect JD Vance, over their aggressive stance against concentrated corporate power, particularly in the technology sector.
While a second Trump administration may be friendlier to business tie-ups, it is likely to keep up the aggressive pursuit of antitrust cases targeting big tech companies
Major cases against Alphabet’s Google and Meta Platforms that are now winding their way through the courts were filed in the first Trump administration, while investigations launched then also yielded lawsuits against Apple
A Republican-led FTC is likely to pull back on the agency’s rulemaking efforts, a priority under Ms Khan that GOP members have opposed.
Though it would be a drastic and unlikely move, a Trump administration could simply drop any Biden-era cases it does not like.
Ms Khan, a Columbia University law professor and former congressional staffer, has held the job since spring 2021 and proved a hard-driving progressive champion.
Now, Mr Ferguson will have to navigate between competing interests within the Republican Party, with populist regulatory hawks like Mr Vance pitted against establishment conservatives in business groups like the US Chamber of Commerce. Antitrust has been a key part of that fight.
Last week, Trump picked Ms Gail Slater, an economic policy adviser to Mr Vance, to head up antitrust enforcement at the Department of Justice.
Before becoming Virginia’s top appellate lawyer, Mr Ferguson was an aide to former Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, where he was responsible for judicial confirmations, including that of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
He previously worked for Republican senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
After law school, Mr Ferguson clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. BLOOMBERG
