Trump Picks Andrew Ferguson to Head Federal Trade Commission

variety.com:

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Andrew Ferguson, a Republican lawyer, was tapped on Tuesday to succeed Lina Khan as chair of the Federal Trade Commission.

President-elect Donald Trump praised Ferguson in a statement announcing the appointment, saying he “has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country.” Ferguson has been on the commission since April and does not require additional Senate confirmation.

His past statements suggest he sees a more limited role for the FTC than did Khan — in September he delivered a speech entitled “Staying in Our Lane,” and in November he blasted Khan’s FTC for its “regulatory assault on American business.” Khan generated considerable resentment and pushback in the business community for taking an aggressive approach to antitrust enforcement.

Ferguson has indicated a milder approach, saying in June that some elements of Khan’s new merger guidelines are “pushing the envelope a little bit.” At that event, he said he would be “open to reforming” Khan’s guidelines, but did not want to rescind them. “At least at this stage, I don’t think it’s good for us to get into a sort of cycle of recrimination where the parties just keep rescinding each other’s guidelines,” he said.