President-elect Trump on Tuesday named Andrew Ferguson as the next chair of the Federal Trade Commission. It was one of several evening announcements Trump made via Truth Social, including that he was naming Kimberly Guilfoyle as ambassador to Greece and former inaugural chairman Tom Barrack as ambassador to Turkey.
- Ferguson. Ferguson will replace Lina Khan, who became a lightning rod for Wall Street and Silicon Valley by blocking billions of dollars' worth of corporate acquisitions and suing Amazon and Meta while alleging anticompetitive behavior, the AP reports. Ferguson is already one of the FTC's five commissioners, which is currently made up of three Democrats and two Republicans. "Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country," Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding, "Andrew will be the most America First, and pro-innovation FTC Chair in our Country's History."
- Ferguson, II. The replacement of Khan likely means that the FTC will operate with a lighter touch when it comes to antitrust enforcement. The new chair is expected to appoint new directors of the FTC's antitrust and consumer protection divisions. Deals that were blocked by the Biden administration could find new life with Trump in command. For example, the new leadership could be more open to a proposed merger between the country's two biggest supermarket chains, Kroger and Albertsons, which forged a $24.6 billion deal to combine in 2022. Two judges halted the merger Tuesday night.