Republican FTC Commissioner Phillips to resign

One of two Republicans on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Noah Phillips, told FTC staff Monday he will be leaving the agency. 

Phillips, who was appointed by former President Trump, sent President Biden a letter Monday morning notifying him of his intent to resign, according to a copy of the email sent to FTC staff. 

“Serving the American people by working with my extraordinary Commission colleagues and the incredible career staff at the agency to protect American consumers has been the honor of my lifetime. I have learned so much from all of you over the last four years, and am inspired by the commitment you bring to the incredible work of the FTC,” he wrote in the email. 

The email did not lay out a specific timeline for Phillips’s resignation. 

Phillips’s departure will not likely impact FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan’s goals, since she will be keeping her Democratic majority. 

There’s been bipartisan support for regulatory agencies to take a tougher stance against the market power of tech giants, which has been a focus for the FTC under the Biden and Trump administration to varying degrees. But the nomination process to fill Phillip’s soon to be vacated seat may be divisive.

Biden was able to push through Khan’s nomination with fairly broad bipartisan support in the Senate, but after appointing Khan as chair of the commission he faced more GOP opposition to his nomination of Alvaro Bedoya. 

Bedoya was confirmed on a party-line vote in May with Vice President Harris casting the tiebreaking vote on the side of Democrats. 

There has also been partisan division amongst the FTC commissioners. 

Phillips and Commissioner Christine Wilson, the two Republicans, broke with the Democratic majority on votes that aimed to carry out the Democratic Party’s approach to take a tougher stance on antitrust. 

Recently, the two Republicans voted against the majority’s decision at the end of July to bring a case against Meta, the parent company of Facebook, to try to block the company’s acquisition of virtual reality company Within Unlimited.