Free Republic

No one was sure what a Kamala Harris presidency would mean for Lina Khan, the controversial chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) appointed by President Joe Biden. But with Harris, too, on her way out, and Republicans slated to take over the White House, we can probably say goodbye—and good riddance—to Khan's reign. With Khan heading the agency, the FTC has taken an aggressive stance against mergers and acquisitions, an aggressive stance against big tech companies, and an odd view of the agency's purpose and authority. "Khan has framed several regulatory issues in the dramatic terms of someone facing...

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is hitting back at the slew of Democratic billionaires calling for a potential Kamala Harris Administration to fire the sitting chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)./i> “Let me make this clear, since billionaires have been trying to play footsie with the ticket,” the New York Democrat wrote in a post on X on Wednesday. “Anyone goes near [FTC Chair] Lina Khan and there will be an out and out brawl. And that is a promise.”Her comments came after billionaire investor Mark Cuban criticized Khan during an event on Tuesday, telling Semafor that “If it were me,...

Khan’s FTC, which has opposed mergers that would have been waved through by previous FTC chairs, has seen mixed success. But her nomination by President Biden in 2021 was clearly a challenge to longstanding doctrines that allowed mega-corporations, including “Big Tech,” to consolidate power. She went so far as to call them “mob bosses” in a recent interview with TechCrunch. ... Meanwhile, the donors reportedly also expressed a dislike of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, whose term ends in June 2026.

Progressive Democrats in Congress, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.) and Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D–N.Y.), are urging the White House to marshal all available organs of the regulatory state to impose rent control on the entire country. A letter authored by the two, and signed by 50 members of Congress, proposes seven actions of varying radicalism and legality that President Joe Biden could take to cap rent increases. "We urge your Administration to pursue all possible strategies to end corporate price gouging in the real estate sector," reads the January 9 letter to Biden. "Simply put, the rent is too...

However, the anti-monopoly activist group Open Markets Initiative, where Democratic FTC Chair Lina Khan used to work, has urged the agency to block the deal, saying that it 'poses immediate and direct threats to American democracy and free speech.' The group argued that Musk's ownership of the Starlink satellite internet service already gives him control over a key communication platform, and that his purchase of Twitter would be a dangerous concentration of power Representative Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, on Wednesday issued a letter raising concerns about the FTC antitrust probe and suggesting he planned...

The US Federal Trade Commission is reportedly reviewing Elon Musk's $44 billion Twitter buyout for potential antitrust concerns. The FTC now has 30 days to consider the deal and decide whether to issue a second request to probe the matter further, although most experts believe there are no antitrust concerns that could block the takeover, according to Bloomberg. However, the anti-monopoly activist group Open Markets Initiative, where Democratic FTC Chair Lina Khan used to work, has urged the agency to block the deal, saying that it 'poses immediate and direct threats to American democracy and free speech.'

Two top House Republicans among big tech's thorniest adversaries in Washington remain starkly divided on the right approach to rein in Silicon Valley.Two top House Republicans among big tech’s thorniest adversaries in Washington remain starkly divided on how to rein in Silicon Valley’s empire. Earlier this month, a group of bipartisan lawmakers led by Rhode Island Democrat Rep. David Cicilline and Colorado Republican Ken Buck — who serve as chair and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law, respectively — unveiled a broad package of antitrust legislation to break up corporate tech monopolies....