Last week, President Trump nominated four new commissioners to the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”):  Joseph J. Simons, an antitrust attorney, as Chairman; Noah Joshua Phillips, chief counsel for Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), for the second Republican seat; Christine Wilson, an executive for Delta Air Lines, for the third Republican seat; and Rohit Chopra, a senior fellow at the Consumer Federation of America, for a Democratic seat.  By statute, no more than three commissioners may be members of the same political party.  The fifth spot on the Commission would remain vacant pending an additional nomination by the President.

If confirmed by the Senate, these four nominees would establish a Republican majority at the FTC.  Since early last year, the agency has been operating with just one Commissioner from each party – Acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen and Democratic Commissioner Terrell McSweeny.  Earlier in the week, President Trump also announced his intent to nominate Acting Chairman Ohlhausen for a seat on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.  Therefore, these new nominations would completely change the composition of the Commission.

The White House formally sent the names of the four nominees to the Senate for confirmation on January 25, 2018.  President Trump had announced his intent to nominate Simons, Phillips, and Chopra to the FTC last October, but did not submit their names at that time.

Two of the nominees will be returning to familiar grounds at 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.  Simons served as Director of the Bureau of Competition and Wilson served as Chief of Staff to former Chairman Tim Muris during the George W. Bush administration.

Simons currently serves as co-chair of the antitrust group at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.  He has been nominated to fill McSweeny’s seat for a seven-year term that will expire in 2024.

Phillips, Senator Cornyn’s chief counsel since 2011, previously worked at Steptoe & Johnson and Cravath, Swaine & Moore, where he focused on civil litigation.  Phillips has been nominated to fill former Commissioner Julie Brill’s seat for a term that will expire in 2023.

Before becoming vice president for regulatory and international affairs at Delta Airlines, Wilson had been a partner in the antitrust group at Kirkland & Ellis.  Wilson has been nominated to complete the remainder of Ohlhausen’s term, followed by a seven-year term that will expire in 2025.

Chopra, the sole Democratic nominee, served as assistant director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from 2010–2015, and was appointed as the first Student Loan Ombudsman at the U.S. Treasury Department, a position created as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.  In 2016, he was a special adviser to the Secretary of Education.  Chopra has been nominated to fill the Commissioner slot that expires in 2019.

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation has set a hearing for February 14, 2018, to consider the four nominees.

Tags: Congress, Federal Trade Commission, FTC, White House
Print:
Email this postTweet this postLike this postShare this post on LinkedIn
Photo of Laura Kim Laura Kim

Laura Kim draws upon her experience in senior positions at the Federal Trade Commission to advise clients across industries on complex advertising, privacy, and data security matters. She provides practical compliance advice and represents clients in FTC and State AG investigations. Laura advises on…

Laura Kim draws upon her experience in senior positions at the Federal Trade Commission to advise clients across industries on complex advertising, privacy, and data security matters. She provides practical compliance advice and represents clients in FTC and State AG investigations. Laura advises on a wide range of consumer protection issues, including green claims, influencers, native advertising, claim substantiation, Made in USA claims, children’s privacy, subscription auto-renewal marketing, and other digital advertising matters. In addition, Laura actively practices before the NAD, including recent successful resolution of matters for both challengers and advertisers. She is the Chair of Covington’s Advertising and Consumer Protection Investigations Group and participates in the firm’s Internet of Things Initiative.

Laura re-joined Covington after a twelve-year tenure at the FTC, where she served as Assistant Director in two divisions of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, as well as Chief of Staff in the Bureau of Consumer Protection and Attorney Advisor to former Chairman William E. Kovacic. She worked on key FTC Rules and Guides such as the Green Guides, Jewelry Guides, and the Telemarketing Sales Rule. She supervised these and other rule making proceedings and oversaw dozens of the Commission’s investigations and enforcement actions involving compliance with these rules. Laura also supervised compliance monitoring for companies under federal court or Commission order.

Laura also served as Deputy Chief Enforcement Officer at the U.S. Department of Education, where she helped establish a new Enforcement Office within Federal Student Aid. In this role, she managed investigations of higher education institutions and oversaw issuance of fines and adverse actions for institutions in violation of federal student aid regulations. Laura also supervised the borrower defense to repayment division and the Clery campus safety and security division.

Read more about Laura KimEmail
Show more Show less