Subcommittee Chairman Bilirakis' Opening Remarks at FTC Budget Hearing

Washington DC House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Trade Chairman Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) delivered the following opening remarks at today's subcommittee meeting: audience entitled The Federal Trade Commission Budget for Fiscal Year 2025.

POLITICIZATION OF THE FTC

Unlike last year, this hearing will feature the full slate of testimony from all five FTC Commissioners, and I welcome the two new Commissioners, Andrew Ferguson and Melissa Holyoak.

Thank you both for your presence and your service. I look forward to hearing how you plan to balance the FTC's perspective and representation in consumer protection.

Unfortunately, until this year the Commission has lost its balanced approach.

Since his confirmation more than three years ago, President Khan has taken an aggressive stance on the use of his powers, leading to internal discord.

Employee morale has dropped from 83% in 2020 to 53% last year. I worry it has lost its roots as a well-respected, bipartisan law enforcement agency focused on protecting against bad actors.

Despite the restrictions on its statutory authority, the FTC has embarked on crafting sweeping new rules, attempting to create policy in the process.

The Commission's proposed regulation on “commercial surveillance and data security” constitutes in particular an excess of powers and raises significant legal concerns.

LACK OF TRANSPARENCY

I had hoped that today could be a new beginning, but I fear that the publication of the Commission's proceedings less than two hours before the start of this hearing is not a positive sign of transparency in the work you are engaged in.

For example, with respect to pharmacy benefit managers, there is no way for either side of the dais to analyze the interim report announced this morning, much less take a broader view of whether it means the Biden administration has failed to address this problem broadly at HHS.

Commissioner Holyoak said it best: “Creating new laws is the job of Congress, not the Federal Trade Commission.” Yet many of these proposed rules generously interpret existing statutory authorities in the broadest terms.

This goes beyond the clear guidance provided by Congress. Mr. Chairman Khan, I am concerned that your approach will seriously harm innovators who fear arbitrary and punitive actions from the FTC.

These efforts, which erode public confidence in the Commission, have not been successful in court.

THE FTC MUST RETURN TO ITS MISSION

I want to reiterate what I made clear at last year's budget hearing: the FTC's current mission and responsibilities are too important and must be prioritized.

Every day, scammers take advantage of the elderly, children and other unsuspecting Americans, defrauding them of billions of dollars.

I want to ensure that the Commission effectively uses its existing authority to pursue and hold these bad actors accountable, thereby protecting Americans from deception and fraud.

Nevertheless, this committee has worked hard on a bipartisan basis to provide proportionate new authorities to the Commission, including the Protecting Americans' Data from Foreign Adversaries Act, as well as other bipartisan efforts such as the Informing consumers about the smart device law, the law on the absence of hidden costs for additional expenses related to staysand the TICKET LAW.

We are actively working towards bipartisan agreements on the American Privacy Rights Act to ensure that we provide a national privacy standard and protect Americans' data from manipulation and abuse without their consent, and Child Online Safety Act to protect our children from the online dangers of Big Tech.

I assure you that this subcommittee will continue to work together to support and protect consumers from harmful and deceptive practices.

But in doing so, you must regain our trust by ensuring that any authority we grant you will not be exaggerated and distorted to achieve the desired outcome.

I implore the President to work with ALL Commissioners, protect consumers from truly bad actors, and be faithful guardians of the law.

I look forward to carrying out this essential and necessary surveillance and hearing each of your testimonies.