Taxpayer Watchdog Calls for Meaningful Questioning at FTC Oversight Hearing

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ahead of the Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee’s hearing on the 2025 budget for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), it is vital for members of the subcommittee to prepare hard-hitting questions for Chair Lina Khan and the rest of the commissioners to answer for their record and the impact it’s had on taxpayers and consumers.

In response, TPAF President David Williams offered the following comment:

“This subcommittee hearing is a key opportunity for the FTC to answer to American taxpayers and consumers for its abysmal record. Members of the subcommittee should ask commissioners why they consistently use taxpayer resources to conduct protracted frivolous lawsuits doomed for failure. The American people deserve to know if the FTC is using lawfare against American firms to achieve political outcomes, despite being on the wrong side of the law.

“The subcommittee should inquire extensively about Chair Khan’s meetings with European regulators. An American official asking foreign regulatory bodies to bring legal action against American companies is unacceptable and potentially very harmful to the economy. This hearing cannot go by without the commissioners having to explain how their approach to antitrust policy possibly benefits American consumers.

“FTC Mission Creep has extensively detailed a runaway FTC. The agency has all but abandoned the consumer welfare standard, while eroding trust – both inside and outside of the agency. The commissioners should answer for their record before the nation.”