FTC chair called a ‘disaster’ as congressional hearing starts

By Diane Bartz

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Lina Khan, the progressive head of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), went before a Republican-led House committee on Thursday where she faced tough questions and intense criticism from Republicans.

The hearing before the House Judiciary Committee began with Chairman Jim Jordan calling Khan’s tenure at the agency a “disaster,” pointing in particular to a probe of billionaire Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, which the Republican has argued was an overreach.

Lawmakers have requested documents regarding the agency’s review, and said the FTC did not respond adequately. Conservatives, without evidence, have accused social media companies, including Twitter before it was acquired by Musk, of seeking to stifle conservative voices.

The top Democrat on the committee, Jerry Nadler, immediately shot back that concentration in certain areas of the U.S. economy was a problem that the agency was tackling. “Ultimately Chair Khan, you will face attacks today because you are doing your job. That is what threatens Republicans,” added Nadler.

Khan is expected to be asked about a tough loss on Tuesday when a federal judge ruled that Microsoft (NASDAQ:) could go forward with its $69 billion deal to buy “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:). The agency has said that it would appeal.

It was not the first loss for the agency under Khan. It also lost a fight to stop Facebook (NASDAQ:) parent Meta Platforms from buying VR content maker Within Unlimited. In addition, an internal FTC judge ruled for Illumina (NASDAQ:)’s purchase of Grail, overruling FTC commissioners. That challenge was initially brought under the Trump administration.

The agency has upcoming legal fights aimed at stopping Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:)’s $13.1 billion deal for Black Knight (NYSE:) and Amgen (NASDAQ:)’s purchase of Horizon Therapeutics (NASDAQ:) for $27.8 billion.