A Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday for Lina Khan’s appointment to a commissioner’s seat on the Federal Trade Commission will mark a watershed moment in federal efforts to rein in big tech companies.

Why it matters: Khan, who has helped define broad new ways to think about how antitrust law should apply to modern technology companies, has had temporary government roles before. But a seat on the FTC, which has the power to investigate and sue companies, would put her at the center of D.C.’s regulatory action.

Catch up quick: Khan, 32, currently associate professor of law at Columbia University, rose to prominence in 2017 after her Yale Law Journal article “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox” argued that Amazon’s retail business should be separated from its selling platform.

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The other side: If Khan gets confirmed, “it suggests that the administration is serious about meaningful enforcement of the antitrust laws after 40 years of a disastrous pro-concentration approach,” said Sarah Miller, executive director of the American Economic Liberties Institute.