The Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 is a United States federal law which established the Federal Trade Commission. The Act was signed into law by US President Woodrow Wilson in 1914 and outlaws unfair methods of competition and unfair acts or practices that affect commerce.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction over federal civil antitrust law enforcement with the Department of Justice Antitrust Division. The agency is headquartered in the Federal Trade Commission Building in Washington,DC.
Christine A. Varney is an American antitrust attorney who served as the U.S. assistant attorney general of the Antitrust Division for the Obama administration and as a Federal Trade commissioner in the Clinton administration. Since August 2011,Varney has been a partner of the New York law firm Cravath,Swaine &Moore,where she chairs the antitrust department.
Jonathan David Leibowitz is an American attorney who served under President Barack Obama as Chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from 2009 to 2013. Leibowitz was appointed to the commission in 2004,and resigned in 2013. During Leibowitz's tenure,the FTC brought privacy cases against Google,Facebook and others for violating consumer privacy,as well as enforcement against "pay-for-delay" deals in which pharmaceutical companies paid competitors to stay out of the market. Prior to joining the FTC,Leibowitz was Vice President for Congressional Affairs from 2000 to 2004 of the MPAA.
Deborah Platt Majoras is the former chair of the Federal Trade Commission,appointed May 11,2004,by President George W. Bush and sworn in on August 16,2004. President Bush had announced his intention to appoint her to the position on July 30,2004. Majoras is a member of the Republican Party.
Pamela LeDeyce Jones Harbour is an American lawyer who served as a member of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from 2003 to 2009. As of 2021,Harbour is one of just three African-Americans to have served as a member of the FTC. Additionally,she is one of the just three political independents to serve on the body as of 2017.
Edith Ramirez is an American attorney who served as a member of the Federal Trade Commission from 2010 to 2017. Ramirez served as FTC Chair from 2013 to 2017,the first person from an ethnic minority to lead the agency.
Julie Simone Brill is an American lawyer who serves as Chief Privacy Officer and Corporate Vice President for Global Privacy,Safety and Regulatory Affairs at Microsoft. Prior to her role at Microsoft,Brill was nominated by President Barack Obama on November 16,2009,and confirmed unanimously by the US Senate to serve as Commissioner of the US Federal Trade Commission on March 3,2010. Brill served as a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from 2010 to 2016.
Maureen Kraemer Ohlhausen is an American lawyer who is a former Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission,a position she held from April 4,2012,to September 25,2018. On January 26,2017,President Donald Trump designated Ohlhausen to serve as Acting Chairwoman of the FTC. In January 2018,she was nominated by President Trump to a seat on the United States Court of Federal Claims. Ohlhausen withdrew her nomination for the federal judiciary in December 2018,opting instead to join Baker Botts as partner and co-chair of the firm's antitrust practice.
Joshua Daniel Wright is an American economist,attorney,and former government official. Wright served as a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from 2013 to 2015. At the time of his nomination,Wright was the fourth economist to serve as an FTC commissioner. Wright was a professor of law at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School between 2004 and 2023,and was the executive director of its Global Antitrust Institute (GAI). In 2023,Wright resigned from George Mason following eight allegations of sexual misconduct from former students.
Terrell McSweeny is an American attorney who served as a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission from 2014 until 2018.
Rohit Chopra is an American consumer advocate who is the third director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and previous member of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Prior to this,Chopra served as assistant director of the CFPB and as the agency's first Student Loan Ombudsman,an office created by the Dodd–Frank Act.
Lina M. Khan is a British-born American legal scholar who has served as chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) since 2021. She is also an associate professor of law at Columbia Law School.
Federal Trade Commission v. Meta Platforms,Inc. is an ongoing antitrust court case brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against Facebook parent company Meta Platforms. The lawsuit alleges that Meta has accumulated monopoly power via anti-competitive mergers,with the suit centering on the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.
Rebecca Kelly Slaughter is an American attorney who is a current commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission. Slaughter was previously the acting chair of the Federal Trade Commission from January 21,2021,to June 15,2021.
The New Brandeis or neo-Brandeis movement is an antitrust academic and political movement in the United States which argues that excessively centralized private power is dangerous for economical,political and social reasons. Initially called hipster antitrust by its detractors,also referred to as the "Columbia school" or "Neo-Progressive antitrust," the movement advocates that United States antitrust law return to a broader concern with private power and its negative effects on market competition,income inequality,consumer rights,unemployment,and wage growth.
Christine Smith Wilson is an American attorney and former government official. A member of the Republican Party,Wilson was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2018 to serve on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Wilson resigned from the FTC in 2023.
Noah Joshua Phillips is an American attorney who served on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from 2018 to 2022. Phillips was appointed to this position in 2018 by President Donald Trump,and was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate. During the Biden administration,Phillips was one of two Republicans on the FTC,along with fellow commissioner Christine S. Wilson.
Alvaro Martin Bedoya is an American attorney and government official who has served on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) since 2022.
Andrew N. Ferguson is an American lawyer serving since 2024 as a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission. He previously served as solicitor general of Virginia from 2022 to 2024.
