US FTC chair to face questions on court losses in congressional hearing

[July 13, 2023]  By Diane Bartz
 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lina Khan, the progressive head of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, goes before a Republican-led House committee on Thursday where she will likely face tough questions including about her court defeats over big corporate mergers.  

The sun sets behind the U.S. Capitol dome in Washington, U.S., on midterm election day, November 6, 2018. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan/File Photo

In announcing the hearing, the House Judiciary Committee, led by Representative Jim Jordan, said it would focus on "mismanagement of the FTC and its disregard for ethics and congressional oversight" as well as "politicized rulemakings."

Khan's most recent loss came this week, when a federal judge ruled that Microsoft could go forward with its $69 billion deal to buy "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard. The agency is considering an appeal.

It was not the first loss for the agency under Khan. It also lost a fight to stop Facebook parent Meta Platforms from buying VR content maker Within Unlimited. In addition, an internal FTC judge ruled for Illumina's purchase of Grail. That challenge was initially brought under the Trump administration.

The agency has upcoming legal fights aimed at stopping Intercontinental Exchange's $13.1 billion deal for Black Knight and Amgen's purchase of Horizon Therapeutics for $27.8 billion.

Lawmakers are also expected to bring up the committee's requests for documents regarding the agency's review of billionaire Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter. Conservatives have accused social media companies, including Twitter before it was acquired by Musk, of seeking to stifle conservative voices.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

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