US: Trump picks antitrust lawyer to head FTC

President Donald Trump has selected Joseph Simons, an antitrust attorney from a Washington law firm, to head the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a White House official said on Wednesday, October 18.

Trump is expected to nominate Simons to the agency, along with Noah Phillips and Rohit Chopra to be FTC commissioners, the White House official said. Upon confirmation, Simons will be designated chairman, the official said.

The agency is currently headed by Acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen, a Republican, with Democrat Terrell McSweeny the only other commissioner. The president has long been expected to name a permanent chair and fill the three empty commission seats, two Republican and one Democrat or independent.

Simons, a partner at the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, was a director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition from 2001 to 2003.

The FTC works with the Justice Department to enforce antitrust law and pursues companies accused of deceptive advertising. It is an independent agency that is headed by a chairman and four commissioners. No more than three commissioners can come from any one party.

Full Content: New York Times

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