Tech Policy Press - Where Does Trump's Takeover of the FTC Leave the Regulation of Big Tech?
Executive director Barry Lynn criticizes the new FTC leadership shift, saying President Trump is prioritizing the interests of powerful corporations over those of the American public.
On March 18, 2025, President Donald Trump removed the two Democratic commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), jeopardizing the agency’s longstanding independence from the executive branch by placing it under exclusive partisan control and calling into question the agency’s future willingness to pursue enforcement actions against Big Tech. His actions have not only sparked a concerning debate about the rule of law in the US but also require policymakers in Europe and the UK to watch closely and weigh their own responses.
FTC Independence Under Threat
The FTC is organized as an independent agency from the executive branch, under the leadership of five Commissioners (including the chair), three of whom are from the same political party as the current President. The President can select a chair from acting Commissioners and nominate new Commissioners when the terms of existing members expire or there are vacancies, with the Senate in charge of confirming the President’s nominees.
The ousting of the Democratic Commissioners came despite a 1935 Supreme Court precedent that prohibited the President from dismissing commissioners “solely over policy disagreements.” Commissioner Bedoya has made clear that “this is corruption, plain and simple. I will see the president in court.” Slaughter has also issued a statement, writing that the “law protects the independence of the Commission because the law serves the American public, not corporate power. Removing opposition may not change what the Trump majority can do, but it does change whether they will have accountability when they do it.” Both have sued President Trump, accusing him of violating federal law.
The agency’s new chief, Andrew Ferguson, however, has “endorsed the president’s authority to remove members of the commission,” which now leaves the agency in the hands of just two Republicans, Chairman Ferguson and Commissioner Melissa Holyoak. Reportedly, Trump has also selected Mark Meador for the third Republican seat.
To many, the move appears aimed at ending the FTC’s aggressive stance against Big Tech. Barry Lynn, the executive director of the Open Markets Institute, wrote that the president appears to have “chosen to put the interests of the oligarch and all-powerful corporation first, and the interests of every other American last.”
While Slaughter and Bedoya “consistently voted in favor of actions to rein in the power of the tech giants,” going forward the FTC may reflect Trump’s wish to “dramatically pare back the federal government’s reach, including by curbing what he called the “regulatory onslaught” from independent agencies like the FTC” and protect his tech-billionaire friends. Ferguson himself has previously stated that he “wrote hundreds of pages of dissents when I was a Republican commissioner under [ex-Chair of the Federal Trade Commission] Lina [Khan]. And we have big differences.” When asked if he would drop enforcement actions made under Khan, he pointed out that “it’s a 2-2 commission right now, so if I wanted to, it’s very difficult.” With that opposition gone, the work of the previous FTC is in jeopardy.
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