Lina Khan. Photo illustration: Annelise Capossela. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Bloomberg via Getty Images
House Republicans' proposed budget cuts to the FTC would be "dire" and catastrophic to the agency's mission, Chair Lina Khan and her fellow commissioners told lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.
Why it matters: The FTC, already squeezing tons of work out of a constrained staff, says it requires money, personnel, administrative power and wins in court to keep carrying out its goals.
- While Democrats have been generally supportive of the agency's efforts, Republicans have lambasted Khan for what they see as an overreach of the FTC's power.
Driving the news: Khan, along with Democratic commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter and Republicans Melissa Holyoak and Andrew Ferguson, appeared before the House Energy and Commerce Committee's innovation, data and commerce panel Tuesday.
The big picture: Khan has an aggressive pro-consumer agenda and has been challenging Big Tech power, along with fighting consolidation across other industries and considering how AI impacts consumers.
- Khan: "As AI tools further incentivize firms to vacuum up people's data, magnifying the privacy risks that people already face, ensuring an effective FTC requires adequately resourcing it."
- The actions of Khan's FTC have rankled traditional business organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, which has found sympathy among Hill Republicans.
By the numbers: House Republicans have proposed nearly $389 million for the FTC in their FY25 bill, a whopping $146 million less than the FTC requested.
- The House Appropriations Committee has advanced its bill with FTC funding, and amendments were due Monday: One from Rep. Jan Schakowsky proposes giving the FTC the amount from its FY25 budget request.
What they're saying: Commissioners told the committee that such a budget cut would severely downgrade their work.
- Slaughter: "Even with limited hiring and some attrition … we will likely cut back on some enforcement actions that require expert witnesses."
- "I do not want to mince words. Some illegal deals and conduct would proceed unchallenged, and our ability to fulfill our mission would be constrained."
Lawmakers pressed Khan on how the agency would proceed following the Supreme Court's Chevron decision, which weakens the power of executive agencies and gives it back to courts.
- Khan said the agency would press forward with its work according to the ruling and current laws.
- Slaughter said that many of the FTC's rules are not made under the Administrative Procedure Act but the Magnuson-Moss Act, making them unaffected by the court's decision.
- The Chevron decision would "discipline agency processes across the board," according to Ferguson.
State of play: Lawmakers all seemed to be in agreement that moves to improve children's privacy online, ban certain types of digital surveillance and analyze how AI tools are impacting people's lives were welcomed.
- There was disagreement on how far new rules should go and what consequences businesses should face, with some Republicans accusing Khan's agency of being overly hostile to the private sector.
