POLITICO: Huge win for progressives as Lina Khan takes helm at FTC

June 15, 2021 Media

President Joe Biden elevated Amazon critic and anti-monopoly advocate Lina Khan to chair the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday, hours after the Senate confirmed her by a 69-28 vote.

She was sworn in just as quickly, the FTC said that evening.

The surprise move gives progressive Democrats both the reins and a majority at the antitrust agency, spurring hopes among critics of Silicon Valley’s giants for a new assertiveness from the FTC, which is already pursuing an antitrust probe of Amazon and waging a lawsuit that seeks to break up Facebook’s social networking monopoly.

Tuesday’s bipartisan support for Khan shows Congress’ “hearty appetite to rein in Big Tech,” said Sarah Miller, executive director of the anti-monopoly advocacy group American Economic Liberties Project.

“Her presence on the FTC marks the beginning of the end of an era of lawlessness for powerful corporations that they’ve enjoyed at the expense of workers, smaller businesses, and democracy,” Miller said.