WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trumpon Tuesday named Andrew Ferguson as the next chair of the Federal Trade Commission.
He will replace Lina Khan, who became a lightning rod for Wall Street and Silicon Valley by blocking billions of dollars’ worth of corporate acquisitions and suing Amazon and Meta while alleging anticompetitive behavior.
Ferguson is already one of the FTC’s five commissioners, which is currently made up of three Democrats and two Republicans.
“Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding, “Andrew will be the most America First, and pro-innovation FTC Chair in our Country’s History.”
The replacement of Khan likely means that the FTC will operate with a lighter touch when it comes to antitrust enforcement. The new chair is expected to appoint new directors of the FTC’s antitrust and consumer protection divisions.
“These changes likely will make the FTC more favorable to business than it has been in recent years, though the extent to which is to be determined,” wrote Anthony DiResta, a consumer protection attorney at Holland & Knight, in a recent analysis.
Deals that were blocked by the Biden administration could find new life with Trump in command.
For example, the new leadership could be more open to a proposed merger between the country’s two biggest supermarket chains, Kroger and Albertsons, which forged a $24.6 billion deal to combine in 2022. Two judges halted the mergerTuesday night.
The FTC had filed a lawsuit in federal courtearlier this year to block the merger, claiming the deal would eliminate competition, leading to higher prices and lower wages for workers. The two companies say a merger would help them lower prices and compete against bigger rivals like Walmart.
One of the judges said the FTC had shown it was likely to prevail in the administrative hearing.
Yet given the widespread public concern over high grocery prices, the Trump administration may not fully abandon the FTC’s efforts to block the deal, some experts have said.
And the FTC may continue to scrutinize Big Tech firms for any anticompetitive behavior. Many Republican politicians have accused firms such as Meta of censoring conservative views, and some officials in Trump’s orbit, most notably Vice President-elect JD Vance, have previously expressed support for Khan’s scrutiny of Big Tech firms.
In addition to Fergson, Trump also announced Tuesday that he had selected Jacob Helberg as the next undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment.
___
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
2024-12-25 09:511911 view
2024-12-25 09:13399 view
2024-12-25 08:441436 view
2024-12-25 08:291353 view
2024-12-25 08:001418 view
2024-12-25 07:461293 view
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Dropping Hi
A Connecticut truck driver will serve at least 12 months behind bars after pleading guilty to charge
ATLANTA (AP) — The prospect — albeit still dim — that Georgia could fully expand Medicaid has prompt