Commissioner
In June 2024,Ferguson,dissented when the Commission issued a final rule banning non-compete clauses in most employment contracts. [10] [11] In August 2024,U.S. District Judge Ada Brown issued a nationwide injunction prohibiting enforcement of the rule. [12]
In September 2024,Ferguson dissented when the Commission conditioned approval of the $53 billion acquisition of Hess Corporation by Chevron Corporation upon the prohibition of John B. Hess from the company's board. [13] [14]
In October 2024,Ferguson argued in a partial dissent from a disqualification motion that the removal protections provided to the commission's administrative law judges are unconstitutional. [15] [16]
Chairman
In January 2025,Ferguson was chosen by Donald Trump to chair the FTC,replacing Lina Khan,officially taking up the position following the President's inauguration. [17] His position as chairman did not need to be confirmed by the Senate,since he was already confirmed to serve on the Commission. [1] He has stated intentions to ease his predecessor's scrutiny of business mergers and acquisitions,while continuing critical oversight of big tech platforms. [18]
In January 2025,the FTC under Ferguson closed public comment on surveillance pricing,a price altering tool some online retailers like Amazon have been accused of using. In surveillance pricing,companies use consumers' personal information such as location and web usage to adjust the price for each individual. [19] This occurred after the FTC had found in an earlier study that companies have indeed used consumer data to adjust and target prices. [20]
In June 2025,the FTC under Ferguson initiated enforcement actions targeting major social media companies to limit the collection and use of personal data from children under 13,citing concerns over privacy and online safety. [21]
According to Bloomberg ,despite expectations to ease business restrictions,Ferguson has kept aggressive cases against Meta Platforms and Amazon,as well as continuing Biden-era investigations of Microsoft. [22]
