House Oversight Committee finds FTC chair Lina Khan abused authority, politicized the agency

The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability released a report today blasting the Federal Trade Commission and FTC Chair Lina Khan for exerting undue “Biden-Harris White House Influence and Sweeping Destruction of Agency Norms.”

The report finds that Khan betrayed the commission’s independent mission, overstepped her authority, trampled on the due process rights of regulated business and industries, upended the rule of law, and violated ethics standards to advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s agenda.

By shifting the FTC’s focus to implement leftist policies, the Commission under Chair Khan disregards American consumer interests and U.S. antitrust policy, the committee’s report said.

“Rather than fulfill her obligation to ensure the FTC adheres to its independent role, our investigation reveals that Chair Lina Khan abused her power and bent the knee to the Biden-Harris White House. During her tenure, Chair Khan abandoned agency norms, disregarded ethical standards, subverted due process rights by colluding with foreign regulatory regimes, and willingly became a political tool for the Biden-Harris Administration to carry out its ideological goals. It’s now clear that Chair Khan will stop at nothing to accomplish the radical left’s desired ends. If this conduct is allowed to continue, it will further undermine Americans’ confidence in the FTC’s role in protecting American consumers and the U.S. marketplace. Chair Khan’s term expired last month, and she should not be permitted to continue leading an independent agency,” said Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.).

Since June 2023, the Oversight Committee has conducted multiple transcribed interviews with top commission officials and requested documents and communications from the FTC to understand concerns related to abuses of power, collusion with foreign officials, improper conduct in the merger review process, and Khan’s recent participation in 2024 campaign events with Democrat candidates.

Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska met with Khan several months ago and pressured her to oppose the merger of Kroger and Albertsons. The agency has since sued to stop the merger of the two grocers, which are only trying to stay competitive with major retailers like Costco and Amazon. Kroger has already said it will not close any stores, distribution centers or manufacturing facilities or lay off any frontline associates as a result of the merger. But Peltola and Khan are driven by AFL-CIO politics in opposing the merger.

Judges in three states are now considering the legal ramifications of the merger, ensuring a costly delay that will ultimately be passed down to consumers.

Below are key findings from the report:

• Chair Khan trampled on principles of due process, respect for the rule of law, and ethical standards to achieve her ideologically fueled ends at the FTC.
• Chair Khan has forsaken Commission independence and bipartisanship to lead the Biden-Harris White House’s left-wing, whole-of-government campaign to reshape American antitrust and competition policy.
• Chair Khan has swept aside principles, practices and policies of merger-review—ones that had served pro-consumer and pro-competitive interests for decades—to launch an intimidation campaign to chill mergers of all kinds.
• On Chair Khan’s watch, the FTC has turned on American companies and turned to European authorities to achieve the Commission’s ends when FTC authorities under U.S. law have not supported Commission-desired outcomes.
• Chair Khan has spearheaded partisan efforts to re-model U.S. antitrust authorities in the image of European laws designed to hurt U.S. companies’ ability to compete in foreign markets.
• Chair Khan has orchestrated wholesale changes in FTC rulemaking practices and policies—enabling extreme Commission overreach at the expense of consumers, regulated businesses, and the public in general.
• Chair Khan has permitted the White House to use the Commission as a shill for Biden-Harris 2024 election interests through Commission leadership of the sham Biden-Harris “Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing.”
• Chair Khan has sidelined career FTC staff, collapsed their morale, triggered an exodus of critical employees, and destroyed career staff’s confidence in the honesty and integrity of Commission leadership.