Andrew Ferguson is Donald Trump's pick as new FTC chief

Inauguration Day in the US is near, and Donald Trump is already nominating his candidates to lead some of the country’s main regulatory agencies. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was one of the agencies where a change of head was expected. Donald Trump’s appointment of Andrew Ferguson as the new chief of the FTC has confirmed this.

Donald Trump selects Andrew Ferguson as new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chief

Andrew Ferguson is a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission and was a secretary to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. “Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country,” Trump said regarding his selection. “Mark has also worked as an antitrust enforcer at both the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, and in private practice at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP,” the new president-elect added.

Andrew Ferguson responded to the nomination on X/Twitter. “At the FTC, we will end Big Tech’s vendetta against competition and free speech. We will make sure that America is the world’s technological leader and the best place for innovators to bring new ideas to life,” he wrote.

Thank you President Trump. Under your leadership, American businesses will become stronger and more competitive, and will better serve workers and consumers, than ever before. I’m honored that you’ve chosen me to be FTC Chairman in your mission to make our country great again.… pic.twitter.com/GxmYWfjpqm

— Andrew Ferguson (@AFergusonFTC) December 11, 2024

We don’t know whether the new FTC chief will try to change the course of any of the ongoing cases. However, Trump’s choice of some representatives suggests otherwise. Some of them are in favor of even tougher antitrust scrutiny than the current one.

Big tech companies, on the lookout

Perhaps the most crucial question in the tech space is how the appointment will impact the large companies that have faced intense scrutiny in recent months—or years. There are currently open cases against names like Apple and Amazon. The FTC is also keeping a close eye on the relationship between Microsoft and Open AI. Meanwhile, Google is still awaiting a final ruling on its monopolistic position.

The DOJ recommended that the federal judge force the Mountain View giant to sell Chrome. The agency also recommended banning deals where Google pays browser developers to set Google as the default search engine. However, the latter could result in loss of funding for smaller browsers.

The work of the FTC under Lina Khan

The FTC has been especially active in recent years under the administration of Lina Khan. The agency, in conjunction with antitrust authorities, has blocked several deals between big companies. They cited a potentially less competitive and fair market for smaller players as the main reason. For example, the FTC filed a lawsuit to stop the merger of the grocery chains Kroger and Albertsons. This week, a federal judge upheld the blocking of the $25 billion merger.

Although Donald Trump is changing the FTC chief, he and his team actually seem to think highly of Lina Khan. JD Vance, the new vice president-elect, called Khan “one of the few people in the Biden administration that I think is doing a pretty good job.” However, the second stage of the Trump administration has insisted on “freedom of speech” as a fundamental pillar. It seems that this will reach the heads of government agencies too.