Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
President-elect Trump on Tuesday named Andrew Ferguson to be the chair of the Federal Trade Commission.
Why it matters: Ferguson is already on the commission, and won't require Senate confirmation to step into the role and replace chair Lina Khan.
What they're saying: "Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country," Trump posted.
- He also wrote that he is nominating Mark Meador, a former staffer to Sen. Mike Lee, to be a commissioner.
Flashback: President Biden nominated Ferguson in July 2023, and he was confirmed earlier this year.
- Ferguson previously served as Virginia solicitor general and was chief counsel to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
- Before that he clerked for Judge Karen L. Henderson on the D.C. Circuit and Justice Clarence Thomas at the Supreme Court.
- He's also worked for Sens. Chuck Grassley and Lindsey Graham, notably during the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Khan sought to transform the FTC and antitrust policy during her tenure with a historically aggressive run going after consolidation in the tech industry.
- The first Trump administration initially filed several major Big Tech antitrust cases, and Khan ramped that up.
- Khan has been popular with some conservatives who agree with her antitrust cases against Big Tech companies.
- Vice President-elect Vance, for example, earlier this year called Khan "one of the few people in the Biden administration actually doing a good job."
What we're watching: It's expected that an aggressive approach to Big Tech will continue in the next administration, but we'll be tracking exactly how Ferguson decides to tackle anticompetitive behavior in the space.
- Not everything will be about continuity: The new chair is expected to roll back a number of initiatives from the Biden era, notably the FTC's non-compete rule.
