We’re posting this on Election Day 2024, at a time when what some have called the most consequential election in a lifetime remains very much in doubt. Although a recent survey found that in the "swing states," 3.7% or 1.2 million potential voters remained undecided, the vast majority of Americans see stark differences between the Presidential candidates and have very strongly held views on the choice before them.
Similarly, there are very strongly held views about FTC Chair Lina Khan, as exemplified by the staff report issued last week by the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, chaired by Representative James Comer: The Federal Trade Commission Under Chair Lina Khan: Undue Biden-Harris White House Influence and Sweeping Destruction of Agency Norms. Among the conclusions reached in the report:
Chair Khan has abused her authority at the agency, trampling on the due process rights of regulated parties, upending the rule of law, and violating ethics standards she is bound to uphold. The Committee has found that Chair Khan has consistently betrayed the obligation of the Commission to be an independent, bipartisan agency. Rather than fulfill her obligation to ensure the Commission adheres to its independent role, Chair Khan has subordinated the agency to the political will, direction, and leftist ideology of the Biden-Harris Administration, its allies in Congress, and activist entities.
This negative view is shared by some other conservative Republican congressmen. For example, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan:
So, if you should ask now, over the two years into her tenure, how has her approach to anti-trust been playing out, as she has one of those critical agencies in our government. The short answer is that it's been a disaster. She's pushed investigations to burden parties with vague and costly demands without any substantive follow through, or frankly, logic for the requests themselves. She's centralized the decision making at the Commission within her office, eliminating any pretext of due process or transparency in that decision making. Her approach is best characterized as one of intimidation followed by inaction.
And Trump surrogate and billionaire Elon Musk succinctly stated, "She will be fired soon."
But other conservative Republicans, led by Senator and Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance, are Khan supporters: " I look at Lina Khan as one of the few people in the Biden administration that I think is doing a pretty good job." She has " been very smart about trying to go after some of these big tech companies that monopolize what we're allowed to say in our own country."
Strong statements of support have come from other conservative Republicans – dubbed the Khanservatives – including the following:
- Congressman Matt Gaetz: "I would hope that whoever is the next FTC chair would continue many of the cases that Chair Khan has brought against predatory businesses." "As the Republican Party becomes more working class, we’re less captive to the neolibertarian view that everything big business does to people is OK," as the Republican party "can't be whores for big business and be the voice of the working class at the same time."
- Senator Josh Hawley: "She has done a good job of picking up the baton and running with it." Hawley said he likes the way Khan has aggressively enforced antitrust laws—a trend he argues began during the Trump administration with the DOJ's monopolization complaint against Google.
- Former Colorado Rep. Ken Buck: "Frankly, this is what Trump ran on in '16. He ran on the threats to American jobs. One of them was immigration, another one’s China, but the other was big corporations."
Perhaps proving that politics makes for strange bedfellows, this strong support for Chair Khan is echoed by progressive leaders. For example:
- Elizabeth Warren: “Chair Khan has done an excellent job as part of the Biden-Harris administration’s broader competition agenda and should of course continue her work lowering costs, protecting workers, and supporting entrepreneurs — it’s a big reason the economy is growing strong.”
- Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: "Let me make this clear, since billionaires have been trying to play footsie with the ticket: Anyone goes near Lina Khan and there will be an out and out brawl. And that is a promise. She proves this admin fights for working people. It would be terrible leadership to remove her."
- And former Labor Secretary Robert Reich: "How do we know that Lina Khan has done an excellent job as FTC chair? Because billionaires and business leaders want her gone." "She's been an avid anti-trust enforcer and defender of working people. She's also been an oligarch's worst nightmare."
Meanwhile, however, Vice President Kamala Harris has apparently avoided public statements, reportedly expressing skepticism of Chair Khan’s expansive view of antitrust powers, according to a donor who has spoken privately with the presidential candidate.
It’s certainly possible that this comparative silence by Vice President Harris is driven in part by the strongly-held views of wealthy Democratic donors, for example:
- IAC Chairman Barry Dillerhas said he would lobby a Harris administration to drop Khan and called her a " dope."
- LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman: Khan is "a person who is not helping America," adding that "antitrust is fine" but that "waging war is not." In an interview with CNN, Hoffman likened Khan’s efforts to rein in corporate abuses as a “war” on corporate power, and stated that he “would hope that Vice President Harris would replace her."
- Khosla Ventures founder Vinod Khosla: "She's not a rational human being. She doesn't understand business; she shouldn't be in that role."
- Mark Cuban: "If it were me, I wouldn't" keep Khan on next year. Cuban commended Khan's efforts launching antitrust probes for pharmacy benefits but said she had overstepped in taking on technology firms over AI. “The bigger picture is, she’s hurting more than she’s helping."
What to make of all of this? On one hand, one might expect Khan to stay on in a Kamala Harris administration, though her naysayers among prominent Democratic donors may make that difficult. On the other hand, one might expect Khan to be replaced as Chair in a second Donald Trump administration, but her supporters among MAGA Republicans may enable her re-appointment. In this topsy-turvy election, anything is possible.
So, as we await the outcome of today’s election, we also await the future of antitrust enforcement in the United States. It's an issue that is hotly Khantested.
