Republicans ridicule, Democrats defend FTC chair on antitrust, ethics

Democrats stood by Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan as she weathered hours of questioning before the House Judiciary Committee, during which Republicans called her a “bully” whose tenure at the antitrust agency had been “a disaster.”

Republicans hammered Khan for allegedly mismanaging the agency and its resources, misleading Congress, launching politically motivated antitrust action and withholding requested information from the committee.

Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) accused Khan of fostering “a system where her and her cronies have unchecked power over business practices in our country.”

Khan defended her agency’s mandate to promote competition and its ambitious legal antitrust enforcement strategy.

“Our competition mission is driven by the tenet that vigorous antitrust enforcement is critical to the growth and dynamism of our economy, as well as to our shared prosperity and liberty,” Khan said.

“Recent decades, however, have vividly illustrated how Americans lose out when markets become more consolidated and less competitive.”

Democrats, who have largely supported efforts by the FTC to block corporate mergers, provided cover for Khan throughout the hearing.

In his opening statement, ranking member Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) praised the FTC for returning more than $430 million to consumers and warned Khan she would face misleading attacks on her work in “the alternate universe that is the House Judiciary Committee under MAGA Republican leadership.”

Republicans attacked Khan for participating in a case against Meta Platforms Inc. despite an internal ethics recommendation that she recuse herself. GOP lawmakers alleged Khan gave “misleading testimony” before Congress in April 2023 about her decision to participate.

Khan denied the allegation, explaining she had no financial stake in any company being investigated by the FTC.

While Republicans have ripped Big Tech for allegedly censoring conservative voices and perspectives on their platform, GOP lawmakers accused the FTC chair of “harassing” Twitter during the hearing.

Twitter disclosed in March that the FTC was investigating the company’s data security and privacy practices. The House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Khan in April over her agency’s investigation into Twitter and its CEO Elon Musk.

Flashback: Democrats blast GOP for ‘wasting our time’ in hearing over ‘Twitter Files’

The social media giant asked a federal court Thursday to terminate an FTC order restricting Twitter’s data security practices, alleging in the filing that the investigation “has spiraled out of control and become tainted by bias.”

Khan argued that consolidation in the tech industry could hurt consumers and contribute to the very censorship Republicans were concerned about.

“The FTC is firing on all cylinders, fighting every day to protect the American people from unlawful business practice,” Khan said.

Republicans also pointed to a series of legal losses the FTC has recently suffered, including a ruling handed down Tuesday allowing Microsoft to close a deal to buy the video game company Activision Blizzard. The FTC said Thursday it would appeal the ruling.

“Jordan’s hearing was somehow more unproductive than we expected,” wrote Liz Zelnick, director of economic security and corporate power at the nonprofit watchdog Accountable.US.

“While committee Democrats were unified in praise of the FTC’s actions to protect families from junk fees, deceptive industry practices, privacy violations and consolidation of corporate power, the Republican majority harped on fringe non-issues that help no family get ahead.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce demanded answers from Khan ahead of the hearing on what Sean Heather, the chamber’s senior vice president for international regulatory affairs and antitrust, described as the “unprecedented regulatory blitz on the U.S. economy” under Khan’s leadership.

“Chair Khan needs to commit to reverse the agency’s present course or otherwise expect Congress to reign in the FTC’s Budget,” Heather wrote ahead of the hearing.

Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.) informed Khan that the House Appropriations Committee was preparing to pass a 25 percent reduction in the agency’s budget for its “rank partisanship.”

The massive cut is unlikely to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate or be approved by President Biden.

Tensions boiled over early in the hearing when Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) asked Jordan to tell a Republican lawmaker who interrupted his time to “shut up.”

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) bristled at Rep. Hank Johnson’s (D-Ga.) comments implying Khan, a British-born American with Pakistani parents, was under intense scrutiny for her work in part because of her ethnicity.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) offered an olive branch, identifying an opportunity for the FTC to work with Congress to strengthen laws to prevent data brokers from selling sensitive data on his constituents.

“If Congress is bought off, if people are just coming here to beat you up over what email account you use or what trip you’ve been on to Europe, I think it misses these things that are far more central to the life our constituents lead,” Gaetz said.