Lawmakers could strip FTC powers in response to Khan’s activist agenda

Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan’s bold attempts to reshape the agency’s enforcement priorities could cause pushback from her adversaries on Capitol Hill.

Split FTC may yield some actions

Even though the five-member Federal Trade Commission faces a 2-2 split between the parties until the likely confirmation of Alvaro Bedoya, there’s still a chance for some things to be accomplished.

Khan sheds light on tackling potential Tesla probe

Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan offered insight into how she would address calls to investigate electric-vehicle maker Tesla’s alleged use of deceptive marketing tactics in a letter to senators.

On the Shelf: A roadmap for solving antitrust challenges in labor markets

The employee shortage in certain industries is why critics say the US has become more of a workers economy. But antitrust laws have made it harder for workers to make gains.

Consumer groups want to sue FTC over used car safety orders

Consumer groups are appealing a DC federal judge’s ruling that they can’t sue the Federal Trade Commission for letting used cars with pending recalls to be advertised as certified or safe.

Privacy Corner: A talk with advocate and rising star Hutson

Privacy lawyer and scholar Jevan Hutson’s initial research focused on dating platforms and ethical considerations that go into shaping architectures for intimacy.

Neil Averitt commentary: Public comments continue to foreshadow future FTC actions

Sometimes public comments to an agency are background noise, and other times they can give solid hints about future actions. So let’s check in on the latest developments.

FTC to hire John Kwoka, noted for work on antitrust remedies

Northeastern University Professor John Kwoka, known for scholarship that includes a 2013 paper critiquing regulatory remedies for mergers, has been hired by the Federal Trade Commission as chief economist to the chair, MLex has learned.

Bedoya faces clutch of skeptical Republican senators

Federal Trade Commission nominee and government surveillance critic Alvaro Bedoya faced skepticism from Republican senators during a Nov. 17 confirmation hearing.

FTC, Congress seek new avenues to impose consumer protection fines

For the first two decades of privacy enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission, tech companies have held a kind of “Get Out of Jail Free” card for privacy violations. Alleged violators were rarely liable to pay a fine the first time the agency caught them in unfair or deceptive conduct.  

People

Kaufman returns to private practice

Calendar

Nov. 30 — Former acting Federal Trade Commission Chair Maureen Ohlhausen and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nancy Rose will participate in an American Enterprise Institute webinar on “How can Congress act more constructively on antitrust?” It will be held from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, go to: https://www.aei.org/events/how-can-congress-act-more-constructively-on-antitrust/.

FTC seeks comment on strategic plan

Kanter begins work as DOJ antitrust chief

S&P-IHS Markit deal hinges on asset sale