The Section 13(b) Fix: Stand-Still On The Hill?

Following House passage of 13(b) legislation this summer, Congressional Democrats seem to have lost some of the urgency with which they were moving to strengthen the FTC's penalty authorities in the wake of the Supreme Court's AMG decision. This is partly due to their preoccupation with a months'-long effort to move President Biden's "Build Back Better" agenda and partly due to the need for some degree of bipartisan consensus in the Senate. With the caveat that Congress can - and often does - surprise us, the prospects for a 13(b) fix any time soon remain murky at best.

Beyond Democrats' pending budget reconciliation legislation, Congress's focus through the end of the year is on deadlines for several "must-pass" bills (e.g., government funding, the debt ceiling, and the annual defense authorization bill). While attaching policy riders to these year-end legislative initiatives is standard practice, it is unclear how hard Democrats may be pushing to include a 13(b)