Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, AGENCY NEWS: Levin: if elected, Harris unlikely to replace Khan, (Aug 1, 2024)
Organizations Mentioned:Federal Trade Commission
By Paul Kirby, TR Daily
Replacing Khan avoids a political fight and avoids diluting Democratic control of the FTC, if Republicans control the Senate.
Vice President Kamala Harris is unlikely to replace Lina Khan as chair of the Federal Trade Commission if she wins the presidency, despite the calls of two major Democratic donors, according to Blair Levin, a policy adviser for New Street Research LLP.
“The two Democratic donors, Reid Hoffman and Barry Diller, are both smart, long-time supporters of Democratic candidates and influential in policy making. In this case, however, we think that if anything, their efforts will fail and are likely to backfire,” Mr. Levin said in a note released today.
“As a legal matter, the President has institutional difficulty firing the head of an independent agency. The President can only terminate an FTC Commissioner for good cause (and none of the criticisms of Khan rise to that legal standard), though the President could designate another Commissioner to be Chair,” Mr. Levin added.
“As a political matter, Harris might find it difficult to replace Khan without undercutting the Democratic majority on the FTC. As Khan’s term is up in September, it is theoretically easy to name a new Commissioner and designate that person, or a sitting Commissioner Chair. It may be difficult, particularly if Republicans control the Senate, to replace Khan, while keeping her in place avoids a political fight and/or diluting Democratic control of the FTC,” Mr. Levin argued. “As an empirical matter, Harris Administration economic officials are unlikely to buy the argument that Khan stifled economic vitality as it is inconsistent with the economic record of the Biden-Harris that they will feel just helped elect them.”
“If anything, Khan is now in a more powerful position post-election,” Mr. Levin added. “Because of the attack on her by powerful donors, her reputation and importance among an important wing of the party is enhanced and her ideas will carry more weight in a potential Harris Administration.”
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