Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan
Photo:
Tom Williams/Zuma Press
Federal Trade Commission Chair
Lina Khan
is breaking sundry regulatory norms in her rush to remake modern antitrust law, as commissioner
Christine Wilson
details nearby in explaining her resignation. Ms. Khan’s norm-busting ironically may make the FTC more vulnerable to legal challenges that eventually weaken its powers.
President Biden first broke political norms by installing Ms. Khan as FTC Chair immediately after the Senate confirmed her by a 69-28 vote to serve on the commission. It’s customary for a President when nominating members to independent agencies to announce at the same time if they will serve as chair. Mr. Biden didn’t.
The Chair has considerable power to control hiring, direct investigations and set the agenda. Many Senate Republicans might have opposed Ms. Khan as Chair because of her long record agitating to replace the antitrust consumer-welfare standard that
Robert Bork
helped develop in the 1970s.
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After her elevation, Ms. Khan quickly expanded her power. On a series of 3-2 votes, Democratic commissioners supplanted the agency’s chief administrative law judge who had long presided over fact-finding and rule-making. They also scrapped a requirement for a commission majority vote before staff can launch an investigation.
She then abused an obscure voting rule in the autumn of 2021 to let former Democratic commissioner
Rohit Chopra
cast pivotal votes even after he had left the agency to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. These “zombie” votes allowed Mr. Chopra to break the agency’s then 2-2 partisan split, including on a major shift in merger policy.
To advance the progressive agenda, she has also breached her ethical obligations. She assured Senators during her confirmation hearing that she would “seek the guidance of the…
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