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One of the most talked-about personnel questions looming over the presidential race just weeks from the election is a highly atypical one: Who will chair the Federal Trade Commission?
The debate over who should lead the competition and consumer protection enforcement agency has traditionally been a sleepy one, held among Washington insiders after the election.
But this year, the role has become an early political flash point, with business luminaries, tech industry leaders, prominent lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and high-profile advocates publicly — and forcefully — weighing in.
The cause is no mystery: Democratic FTC Chair Lina Khan’s aggressive oversight of industry giants across tech and other sectors has made her a star among liberal Democrats and conservatives critical of corporate power, while drawing derision from business magnates.
Vice President Kamala Harris — who is courting both camps as she runs a tight race against former president Donald Trump — has remained mum on whether she would keep Khan if elected, further stoking speculation. (The Harris campaign did not respond to a request for comment.)
But the highly publicized nature of the dispute — now the topic of national op-eds and “60 Minutes” specials — is practically unheard of for an agency head at this stage in the race, when campaigns are just starting to field questions about who would fill higher-profile Cabinet roles.
Khan’s fate reentered the public spotlight this week after billionaire businessman Mark Cuban, a major Harris booster, said she should not be retained at the FTC.
Cuban said that while Khan has done good work on health-care issues, she is risking “our ability to be the best in artificial intelligence in the world” by “trying to break up the biggest tech companies.” He added, “The bigger picture is she’s hurting more than she’s helping.”
Asked if she should keep her FTC job, Cuban replied, “If it were me, I wouldn’t.”
Liberal Democrats rushed to Khan’s defense, hammering Cuban’s remarks.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote on X on Tuesday that Cuban was wrong and called Khan “the best FTC Chair in modern history.” Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien echoed Sanders’s remarks, saying that if Harris and Trump want to prove they will stand up to the tech giants, keeping Khan is vital.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) took the argument a step further Wednesday, vowing that there would be “an out and out brawl” if more billionaires pushed for Khan’s ouster. She also appeared to fire a shot across the bow of the Harris campaign, saying: “It would be terrible leadership to remove her.”
Throughout her tenure, Khan has also drawn plaudits from some conservatives. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Trump’s running mate, has said that she’s doing a good job and that he’s a fan.
The FTC declined to comment on Khan’s future, but an agency spokesman pushed back on Cuban’s argument that her approach to competition in tech would hurt AI innovation.
“History has shown that extreme consolidation weakens our national defense by concentrating risk and that unchecked monopolies reduce innovation since paradigm shifting breakthroughs come from disruptive outsiders, not large incumbents,” spokesman Douglas Farrar said.
The outcry on the left mirrored the response when LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, a Democratic megadonor, called for Harris to fire Khan in a televised interview in July.
Khan’s allies have notably closed ranks around her as the election approaches — and as questions linger about her future in a potential Harris administration.
Lawmakers including Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders have held numerous events with Khan in recent weeks, touting her work to rein in corporate power and industry giants.
Top Republicans including Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.) and James Comer (Ky.) bashed Khan over the appearances, accusing her of politicizing the FTC ahead of an election. McMorris Rodgers, whose committee oversees the agency, said the saga “furthers my serious concerns that the @FTC is heading in the wrong direction & losing independence.”
“FTC Chair Khan only attends official events at the request of members of Congress, abiding by all the rules governing her role as chair,” said Farrar, the agency spokesman.
The saga has added political intrigue to the already unusually high-profile debate over the role, which whoever becomes president is unlikely to settle for several months still.
From our notebooks
Why the White House turned to Reddit to fight hurricane falsehoods
The White House confirmed Wednesday that it has launched an official account on Reddit, the popular online discussion site, as it looks for new ways to get its message out amid a tide of social media-fueled falsehoods and conspiracy theories about hurricanes Helene and Milton, your co-hosts Will Oremus and Cristiano Lima-Strong report for the Tech Brief.
White House digital director Christian Tom said in a phone interview that Reddit can be particularly effective for messaging during major events because its structure allows “people to self-organize around topics and things that they care about.”
The White House joined the site in 2021 but published its first Reddit post Tuesday: a photo of President Joe Biden holding a briefing about the storms that received over 26,000 upvotes as of Wednesday afternoon. It followed up with a post outlining key elements of the Biden administration’s disaster response, which it shared in forums, or subreddits, devoted to the states of Georgia and North Carolina.
Reddit, whose stock has soared since it went public in March at a valuation of $6.5 billion, has played an influential and occasionally controversial role in news and politics in its 19-year history. In 2012, President Barack Obama held an AMA, or “ask me anything,” session on the site. In 2020, Reddit shut down an influential forum devoted to supporting President Donald Trump after what it said was a long string of policy violations.
More recently, the site has emerged as a leading venue for internet users to find reliable answers to questions that Google search results and AI chatbots struggle with. Reddit enlists its 90 million active users to upvote and downvote each post and reply, so the most popular messages and responses rise to the top of discussions.
“There’s immense interest and a thirst for some real information [about the hurricanes], and we want to be providing it to people,” Tom said.
Government scanner
Lina Khan is just getting started (she hopes) (Bloomberg Businessweek)
China intensifies efforts to influence 2024 election, focusing on local politicians (Jeremy B. Merrill, Aaron Schaffer and Naomi Nix)
Crypto firms charged with market manipulation in U.S. sting (Bloomberg News)
Inside the industry
Amazon to expand prescription delivery to 20 additional cities (Caroline O’Donovan)
Elon Musk promised a robotaxi again. Will he deliver this time? (Trisha Thadani and Rachel Lerman)
Privacy monitor
Marriott to improve data-security practices, pay $52 million in U.S. settlements (Wall Street Journal)
Trending
Nobel Prize in chemistry awarded to three scientists for work on proteins (Carolyn Y. Johnson and Lizette Ortega)
From The Post Live stage
Daybook
- Information Technology and Innovation Foundation hosts a webinar, “Is the DMA a Boost or Brake for European Competitiveness?”, Thursday at 10 a.m.
- Freedom House hosts an event, “21st Century Elections: Technology, Disinformation/Misinformation & AI,” Friday at 11 a.m.
Before you log off
nyt needle. on the vegas sphere pic.twitter.com/9dUCQifHOS
— Clare Considine (@macrotargeting) October 9, 2024
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