The chair of the Federal Trade Commission defended her aggressive legal strategy toward the country’s biggest technology companies Thursday as House Republicans charged that the agency has become overzealous and politicized under President Joe Biden.
“Our competition mission is driven by the tenet that vigorous antitrust enforcement is critical to the growth and dynamism of our economy, as well as to our shared prosperity and liberty,” Khan said. “Recent decades, however, have vividly illustrated how Americans lose out when markets become more consolidated and less competitive.”Getty Images
Republicans questioned the wisdom behind aggressive regulation, and whether it could hurt small businesses as well. California Rep. Darrell Issa criticized the FTC’s “left turn” since she took over two years ago. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said that Khan’s oversight of Twitter seems like an “obsession.”
Twitter, now under parent company X Corp., on Thursday ahead of the congressional hearing asked a federal court to end that consent order and “rein in an investigation that has spiraled out of control and become tainted by bias.”after the company had sought her recusal over Khan’s past advocacy against Facebook’s big mergers. They questioned her about whether she had ignored recommendations to do so, citing an internal agency memo.