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Alvaro Bedoya Nomination Hits Republican Roadblock

By  |  March 7, 2022

US Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) announced that he will block expedited Senate consideration of Alvaro Bedoya’s nomination to serve on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

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    Blunt cited the FTC’s obstruction of Tractor Supply’s deal to buy Orscheln Farm and Home, a Moberly, Missouri-based, family-owned business that has served Midwest rural communities for more than 55 years.

    Blunt previously asked Bedoya about the FTC’s delay in approving the merger, noting the commission’s failure to recognize Orscheln’s full range of competitors, including Internet-based platforms like Amazon and big box retailers, and account for the economic realities faced by rural communities where Orscheln’s stores are located.

    Bedoya, a critic of surveillance software, is among a slate of Biden nominees who have signaled the dawn of more aggressive tech and telecom regulation. But the clock is ticking on that agenda — especially as it appears increasingly likely that Republicans could regain control of Congress in the midterms and subject the agencies to tougher oversight.

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