What Happens To The FTC Under A Biden-Harris Administration?

Now that Joe Biden has been declared the winner of this year's presidential election, many practitioners are beginning to turn their focus to how a Biden Administration will reshape federal agencies. This post takes a look at changes that may be in store for the FTC.

For much of the past few years, the FTC has been at the center of vigorous debates about the exercise of its competition and consumer protection authority, with issues such as consumer privacy and potential antitrust enforcement against internet platforms dominating much of the agency's agenda. Although it is too early to assess how the FTC's substantive priorities might change under new leadership, a look at the Commission's structure provides some clues about the levers that a Biden-appointed Chair will be able to use to set the FTC's direction. This post examines some of the key elements of that structure.