We’ve written previously about the Trump administration’s effort to increase his influence over independent agencies such as the FTC and to review regulations promulgated by these agencies. The White House is also reportedly directing agencies, including the FTC, to prepare for reductions in force. But, given these developments, what will the FTC under Chairman Ferguson prioritize for the Bureau of Consumer Protection? Some clues and some speculation follow.
On February 26, Chairman Ferguson announced the creation of a task force including staff from the Bureau of Consumer Protection, Bureau of Competition, Bureau of Economics, and the Office of Policy Planning to focus on protecting consumers in their role as workers, which are similar to previously proposed efforts under the prior administration. The directive to the FTC staff identifies conduct that should be part of the effort, including:
- Deceptive job advertising
- Deceptive business opportunities
- Misleading franchise offerings
- Job scams
The Task Force is to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of such conduct, as well as promote the study and coordination of research on labor issues.
As we noted previously, the Chair Khan’s tenure ended with a blitz of rulemakings, some of which would seem to impact the “labor” focus of Chairman Ferguson, including the Business Opportunity Rule, Earnings Claims Regarding Multi-Level Marketing. Then Commissioner Ferguson and Commissioner Holyoak voted against the rules. What happens to these rules, given the seeming conflict between the anti-regulatory push and the pro-labor push, will be interesting to follow. I expect more enforcement using the FTC’s Section 5 authority without resort to rules.
Also on February 26, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a confirmation hearing for Mark Meador to serve as an FTC commissioner. Much of the hearing involved senators from each party trying to get Meador to agree with them on the question of FTC “independence” and whether Humprhrey’s Executor was still good law; or whether “Big Tech” was censoring conservative views and whether doing so violated the FTC Act. Meador navigated through those minefields gracefully, politely refusing to be nailed down. We note that Chairman Ferguson announced on February 20 that the agency has launched a public inquiry to better understand the technology platform censorship issue. During his testimony, Meador indicated that he would support restoration of the FTC’s ability to obtain redress or refunds from consumers in appropriate cases. What “appropriate” cases might be was left unsaid.
One consumer protection issue that does seem to have the new administration’s attention is protecting children online, including examining how platforms advertise to and contract with children. Expect to see study and enforcement here.
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