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Nov 01, 2024

Exclusive | FTC Chair Lina Khan criticized by GOP-led House panel

The House Oversight Committee is calling for Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan to be replaced, accusing her of infusing the powerful agency with “left-wing ideology” and allowing it to be used

The House Oversight Committee is calling for Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan to be replaced, accusing her of infusing the powerful agency with “left-wing ideology” and allowing it to be used as a “political tool” for Democrats as the 2024 presidential election comes to a head.

The GOP-led panel ripped he 35-year-old US regulator — who became the youngest FTC chair in the agency’s history in 2021 — for overseeing a “sweeping destruction of agency norms” as it warned against re-upping her tenure in a scathing 59-page report on Thursday.

In addition to concerns about unfair policing of mergers that has penalized US companies and instead helped do the bidding of EU regulators, Republicans on the Oversight Committee said Khan has allowed the agency to pursue partisan politics on behalf of Democrats.

As an example, they pointed to a so-called “Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing” formed at the FTC, which they alleged amounted to blame-shifting for inflation.

“Indeed, rather than examine its own role in contributing to inflation, the White House often has used a willing FTC to shift blame for historic inflation to the Administration’s favorite scapegoats: American companies,” the report said.

Republicans have also blasted Khan for appearing at events with prominent Democrats in recent weeks — so close to the election.

“Rather than fulfill her obligation to ensure the FTC adheres to its independent role, our investigation reveals that Chair Lina Khan abused her power and bent the knee to the Biden-Harris White House,” Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) told The Post.

“It’s now clear that Chair Khan will stop at nothing to accomplish the radical left’s desired ends. If this conduct is allowed to continue, it will further undermine Americans’ confidence in the FTC’s role.”

Khan’s hardline approach toward big businesses has made her a progressive darling, with key supporters in Congress including Sens. Elisabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) warned of an “out and out brawl” if Kamala Harris moves to ditch her should she win the White House.

But her tenure has rattled deep-pocketed Wall Street donors in the Democratic Party — among them LinkedIn founder Reed Hoffman — and prompted some to urge Vice President Kamala Harris against renominating Khan to serve as FTC chair, should she prevail in the Nov. 5 election.

So far, Harris, 60, has been coy about whether she would retain Khan.

“Chair Khan’s term expired last month, and she should not be permitted to continue leading an independent agency,” Comer, 52, added.

A key factor in Khan’s appeal with progressives has been her opposition to a bevy of corporate mergers, whereas Republicans on the panel have faulted her for being too restrictive on deals.

The report ticked through legal setbacks the FTC endured when it worked to scuttle mergers involving tech giants like Meta and Microsoft, arguing that under her watch, the agency has been “throwing sand in the gears of every stage of the merger review and approval process.”

One estimate cited in the report found that the paperwork burden from the FTC’s changes to the Hart-Scott-Rodino review process would “multiply almost four times.”

“Chair Khan has abandoned the Commission’s responsibility to protect Americans from anti-competitive mergers while allowing pro-competitive—and, hence, pro-consumer—mergers to proceed,” the Oversight report said.

“In its place, Chair Khan has steered the Commission to use seemingly all possible levers at all possible times to deter all mergers of any kind, to the detriment of consumers.”

A source familiar with the situation claimed to The Post that the rules in question had garnered bipartisan support in the FTC Commission.

The Oversight Committee also drew attention to the FTC’s cooperation with European entities on matters like the EU Digital Market Act, which has tightened the screws on tech giants, including American ones.

“Under Chair Khan, the Commission appears to be working to ensure U.S. businesses implement burdensome European Union (EU) regulations that are not required under U.S. law,” the report alleged.

It noted that European regulators have been chaffing with US businesses on a variety of fronts such as content moderation on social media, and warned that some of the regulations have been “detrimental to U.S. tech companies.”

At one point, the Oversight Committee cited an email from Maria Coppola, the director of the Office of International Affairs, who congratulated her European counterparts on the Digital Market Act’s passage.

FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar hit back at those characterizations.

“The FTC regularly and lawfully coordinates with international partners as it has for decades under both Republican and Democratic Chairs, but we never outsource our authority,” Farrar told The Post.

The report alleged that morale at the FTC has plummeted under Khan’s watch and cited a survey that found the FTC used to be second on the list of “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government,” but dropped to 22nd in 2022.

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Notable, however, morale shot up about 7% in 2023 and a source familiar told The Post that the trend is continuing into 2024.

Khan had implemented a “gag order” of sorts restricting staff from engaging in certain types of “consumer and business education.”

Some staffers also groused that they had far less face time with Khan than they had with prior FTC chairs, according to the report.

The report noted Trump-appointed FTC Commissioner Christine Wilson’s protest resignation in 2023 over what she described as a “disregard for the rule of law and due process” at the agency.

Despite the complaints about Khan in the business sector, some Republicans like Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and GOP vice presidential hopeful Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), have praised some of her work.

A source at the FTC noted that Comer and Khan have worked together in the past on scrutinizing pharmacy benefit managers, which has been one of the projects the Kentucky rep’s Oversight Committee has pursued over the past two years.