Taxpayer Watchdog Urges No New Funds, No New Power for FTC

For Immediate Release

Contact: Kara Zupkus, (224) 456-0257

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In front of a House Appropriations subcommittee, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan asked appropriators for $535 million in funds for the next fiscal year. This represents a roughly 25 percent increase from their funding levels this year.

In response,  TPA Executive Director Patrick Hedger offered the following comment:

“If ever there was a federal agency that does not merit any funding increase, especially a 25 percent increase, it is the FTC. The last year for the agency has been marked by chaos, lawlessness, and a vindictive targeting of American companies, oftentimes in collusion with foreign regulators. In March of 2023, then-Commissioner Christine Wilson resigned in protest over the lack of transparency within the agency and cited how far the FTC had strayed from its mission to protect American consumers. The FTC operated with only three of its five commissioners for much of the time since.

“The FTC also lost a series of legal cases they brought against American firms. In many cases, all indications point to Chair Khan knowing the lawsuits would fail but hoping that the process would strong-arm these companies into submission or that the defeats would prompt lawmakers to change existing law. The FTC is charged with enforcing existing law, not making new public policy.

“An increase in funding of this size would only contribute to this unsettling mission creep. Lawmakers should not embolden this agency to overstep its mandate and hamstring the American economy. Until transparency, order, and a willingness to abide by existing guidelines is brought to the FTC, any funding increases should be off the table. The creep into more taxpayer money for the FTC must be stopped.”

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Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis and dissemination of information on the government’s effects on the economy.