A group of former staff members at the Federal Trade Commission has slammed the agency as overreaching and breaching norms.
The coalition of former FTC staff members released the letter on Tuesday criticizing FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan, a top liberal proponent of aggressive antitrust action against big businesses, as undercutting the agency and harming its credibility.
"The agency seems to be moving away from some of these norms and ... these changes may undermine the agency's credibility to enforce the law and to protect consumers," the former staff members argued in the letter, a copy of which was sent to the Washington Examiner."In the worst case, with ongoing scrutiny of administrative agencies, a departure from these norms could imperil long-term support for the agency itself.
Khan is a leader in the"hipster antitrust" movement, which aims for greater scrutiny of big businesses and anti-competitive behavior.
The former staff members recommended that the FTC uphold"the tradition of meaningful consultation among the agency's staff, stakeholders, and all commissioners," ensure that its expressions of power are within the statutory text of historical standards, and"not base a significant action, such as a rulemaking, on a thin statutory reed that lacks a consistent history of use."
If the FTC does continue to overstep its authority, the authors note, then Congress could revisit the agency's authority, as it did in the 1980s after critics labeled the commission the"national nanny."The letter's signatories include several former attorneys at the agency, former leaders from the Office of Policy Planners, and the former executive director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection.
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