Technology

Senate confirms full slate of FTC commissioners

The Senate on Thursday unanimously confirmed all five of President Trump’s nominees to serve on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), bringing the consumer protection agency to full strength for the first time since the start of the new administration.

The FTC will now be chaired by Joseph Simons, a Republican antitrust attorney who led the commission’s competition bureau during the George W. Bush administration.

Also confirmed Thursday were two other Republicans — Noah Phillips, an aide to Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), and Delta Air Lines executive Christine Wilson — plus two Democrats — Rohit Chopra, a consumer advocate and former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau official, and Rebecca Slaughter, an adviser to Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

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The agency has been operating with just two commissioners for the past 15 months, and the one Democrat at the agency, Terrell McSweeny, was set to step down after Friday.

The new leadership will have to hit the ground running on several pressing issues.

The FTC is currently investigating Facebook’s handling of the Cambridge Analytica scandal to determine whether the company violated a 2011 consent decree, a probe that could lead to hefty fines.

The agency will also soon be tasked with policing internet service providers as the Federal Communications Commission relinquishes its oversight of the industry with the repeal of that commission’s net neutrality rules.

Tags Chuck Schumer Donald Trump Federal Trade Commission FTC John Cornyn

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