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FTC Gets New Leadership
May 4, 2018 Download PDF
Less than a week after the U.S. Senate voted to approve a full slate of new commissioners to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), four of those appointees were sworn in to their new positions. The new FTC commissioners are:
- Chairman Joe Simons: Simons joins the Commission from Paul, Weiss, where he was co-chair of the firm’s antitrust practice in Washington, DC. He was previously the Director of the Bureau of Competition at the Commission, among other positions.
- Rohit Chopra: Chopra is a consumer advocate who formerly served as an assistant director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). He also served as a senior adviser at the Department of Education under the Obama administration.
- Noah Phillips: Phillips was chief counsel to Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), and before that he worked in private practice in both Washington and New York, focusing on civil litigation.
- Rebecca Slaughter: Slaughter was a long-time aide and chief counsel to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), where she dealt with issues including consumer protection, privacy, and intellectual property.
The fifth appointee is Delta Airlines executive Christine Wilson, who formerly served as chief of staff to the FTC Chairman before becoming a partner at a private law firm. She will be sworn in once former Acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen vacates her position to serve on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
The simultaneous Senate approval of five commissioners is an extremely rare event in the history of the FTC. The new commissioners begin their tenure at a time when many observers are raising questions about the appropriate role of antitrust policy and heightened attention surrounding data collection by technology companies.