WASHINGTON — Christine Wilson, the Federal Trade Commission’s only Republican commissioner, said Tuesday she would resign soon and criticized Lina Khan, the agency’s Democratic chair, accusing her of an “abuse of power.”
Ms. Wilson, who announced her decision in a opinion essay in The Wall Street Journal, has been a consistent critic of Ms Khan’s leadership. Ms. Khan, who became chair of the FTC in June 2021, immediately set out to aggressively transform the agency into a bulwark against tech monopolies and mergers and a more powerful regulator of online privacy.
Ms Wilson and another former Republican FTC member, Noah Phillips, who resigned in October, have repeatedly expressed concern that Ms Khan’s ambitions exceeded the legal authority of the agency, which enforces protection laws. the consumer and competition.
In particular, Ms Wilson criticized a lawsuit the FTC filed in July to block Meta’s merger with a maker of virtual reality apps, Within, as well as last month’s decision to ban “non-compete” clauses in labor contracts that limit the options of employees. while ensuring the power of companies to retain workers.
Ms. Wilson is a longtime antitrust attorney and was nominated to the FTC by President Donald J. Trump in 2018. The FTC has five commissioners.
“My primary concern with your leadership of the commission relates to your willful disregard of congressionally imposed limits on agency jurisdiction, your defiance of legal precedent, and your abuse of power to achieve desired results,” the letter wrote. Mrs. Wilson about Mrs. Khan.
Ms. Khan said in a joint statement with two Democratic FTC commissioners, Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya: “While we often disagree with Commissioner Wilson, we respect her devotion to her beliefs and are grateful for her public service. ”.
Wilson’s departure is expected to put more political pressure on the agency, which Republican lawmakers and business have criticized for being too tough on business. Congress controls agency budgets and can threaten to restrict the powers of the FTC through its power over funding. You may also call Ms. Khan to appear at public oversight hearings.
Khan has defended his actions, saying the agency’s lax approach to mergers for decades had allowed companies like Google, Meta and Amazon to grow in size and gobble up the competition. He has lobbied the agency to take on riskier cases that he may not even win.
President Biden nominated Ms. Khan to lead the FTC as part of a group of progressive antitrust reformers that included Tim Wu in the White House and Jonathan Kanter, head of antitrust at the Justice Department. Ms. Khan is overseeing lawsuits against Meta and a lawsuit to block Microsoft’s merger with Activision.
Khan, 33, rose to fame in 2017 when he published an article in the Yale Law Journal about Amazon, challenging decades-old views on illegal monopolization and the ways antitrust laws were applied to tech companies. He continued to draw attention with his participation in a 2020 congressional report calling for the breakup of technology monopolies.
Ms Wilson and companies including Meta and Amazon have called on Ms Khan to refrain from participating in investigations and cases involving them. They said that given Ms Khan’s early views on the companies, she was unable to fairly assess the cases involving them. Ms Khan has not withdrawn from cases involving Meta and other tech companies.
Ms. Wilson did not announce a date for her departure.
