WASHINGTON (AP) — Andrew Ferguson was chosen the Federal Trade Commission’s next chair by President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday.
He will succeed Lina Khan, who became a lightning rod for Silicon Valley and Wall Street after she sued Amazon and Meta for alleged anticompetitive activities and blocked billions of dollars’ worth of corporate acquisitions.
Three Democrats and two Republicans currently make up the FTC’s five commissioners, including Ferguson.
Andrew has demonstrated his ability to oppose Big Tech’s censorship and defend free speech in our wonderful nation. Andrew will be the most America First and pro-innovation FTC Chair in our nation’s history, Trump stated on Truth Social.
As a result of Khan’s removal, the FTC is probably going to enforce antitrust laws less strictly. It is anticipated that the next chair would name new directors for the FTC’s consumer protection and antitrust departments.
Anthony DiResta, a consumer protection lawyer at Holland & Knight, stated in a recent analysis that these changes are likely to make the FTC more business-friendly than it has been in previous years, but it is unclear to what degree.
With Trump in power, deals that the Biden administration vetoed may find new life.
For instance, the proposed merger between the two largest grocery chains in the nation, Kroger and Albertsons, which struck a $24.6 billion agreement to join in 2022, may be more acceptable to the new leadership. The merger was stopped Tuesday night by two judges.
Earlier this year, the FTC filed a lawsuit in federal court to stop the merger, arguing that it would decrease competition and result in higher prices and lower salaries for workers. According to the two businesses, a combination would enable them to cut costs and take on larger competitors like Walmart.
The FTC had demonstrated that it was likely to win the administrative hearing, according to one of the judges.
According to some experts, the Trump administration might not completely give up on the FTC’s attempts to stop the merger, though, given the general public’s anxiety over exorbitant supermarket prices.
Additionally, the FTC may keep looking into Big Tech companies for any instances of anticompetitive behavior. Several Trump-affiliated figures, most notably Vice President-elect JD Vance, have previously voiced support for Khan’s investigation of Big Tech companies, and numerous Republican politicians have accused companies like Meta of stifling conservative viewpoints.
Trump also named Jacob Helberg as his next undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy, and the environment on Tuesday, in addition to Fergson.
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