- Jim Jordan, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has set an April 10 deadline for the Biden-nominated chair of the Federal Trade Committee to hand over documents related to the FTC's approach to company mergers and acquisitions.
- Jordan, who has been applauded by his Republican colleagues, is being criticized by House Democrats for hampering the agency's work.
- The GOP lawmaker has also demanded that the FTC release information detailing its ongoing investigation into Twitter's privacy and data security policies and the platform's purchase by new CEO Elon Musk.
Representative Jim Jordan, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has set a hard deadline for Federal Trade Committee Chair Lina Khan to hand over documents related to the FTC's approach to company mergers and acquisitions.
On Thursday, Jordan told Khan that she had until April 10 to respond to his request or face a subpoena from his committee. He had previously asked Khan to hand over the records by March 9, but the Republican said she did not comply with the first deadline.
House Republicans have promised to hold Khan accountable since Christine Wilson, who was the sole Republican commissioner on the FTC, wrote an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal in February announcing that she would resign because of the leadership of the Democratic chair. Her resignation went into effect last Friday.
Wilson, a Trump nominee, accused Khan of aggressively trying to transform the FTC since taking her position in June 2021, calling it an "abuse of power." In particular, she criticized the lawsuit that FTC filed last summer to block tech giant Meta's merger with Within, a virtual reality app maker.
In the new letter, Jordan renewed his concern that Khan has "abandoned...free-market principles" under her approach to mergers and acquisitions. An FTC spokesperson told Newsweek that the agency had received his request, but declined to comment further.
Jordan's spokesperson, Russell Dye told FedScoop that the chairman was particularly concerned that the first deadline was not met last month because the FTC is historically among the most responsive agencies when it comes to answering questions and requests from Congress.
"It certainly raises serious concerns when they are being this obstructionist," Dye said, adding that Jordan was seriously considering issuing a subpoena to get his hands on the documents.
Jordan was applauded by his Republican colleagues who support his tougher approach to Khan. Texas Representative Nathaniel Moran, who was among the six House Republicans who wrote the March letter to Khan, told the outlet he appreciated that Jordan is "building on our previous efforts to demand transparency for the American people and continuing to press Chairwoman Lina Khan on this important issue."
House Democrats have criticized their GOP counterparts for going after the FTC, arguing that these requests are hampering the agency's work. In a statement sent to FedScoop, Representative David Cicilline, who defended Khan in the past and said she would "help restore competition and anti-competitive behavior," urged Republicans to consider other legislative proposals targeting their competition concerns.
Jordan, with the help of Texas Senator Ted Cruz, has also demanded that Khan release information detailing its ongoing investigation into Twitter's privacy and data security policies, as well as the platform's purchase by new CEO Elon Musk.
Documents obtained by The New York Times last week revealed that Musk had asked to meet with Khan late last year, but that he was rebuffed in a January 27 letter that cited the FTC's focus on complying with investigators over Musk.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek reporter based in New York City. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and world politics. ... Read more
