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April 19, 2023
KJ Boyle Andrea Beaty Emma Marsano
Newsletter Anti-MonopolyConsumer ProtectionDepartment of JusticeFTCGovernment CapacityIndependent Agencies
To Reverse Decades Of Neglect, Antitrust Agencies Need Robust Budgets
The FTC and the DOJ are still dealing with a deluge of corporate mergers, and still only have capabilities to challenge a handful of those actions each year. Restoring competition in the U.S. economy will require much more than slight increases in funding — these government agencies need monumental budgets to take on entrenched monopolies that have flourished with decades of lax enforcement.
April 11, 2023
Progressive Groups Urge President Biden Not To Rush To Fill Republican FTC Vacancies
Demand Progress and the Revolving Door Project sent a letter to President Biden reminding him that neither the White House nor Senate Democrats “should feel compelled to expedite the nomination and/or confirmation of Republicans to independent agencies” particularly while Democratic nominees remain languishing in the Senate due to years of Senate Republicans’ malfeasance.
March 31, 2023
As We Say Good Riddance, Which Corporate-Funded Entity Will Give Christine Wilson A Warm And Lucrative Welcome?
Today marks Christine Wilson’s final day as a Commissioner for the Federal Trade Commission. The question on the top of our minds: Will Wilson follow in the footsteps of her former colleague, and RDP’s 2022 “Revolver of the Year,” Noah Phillips, and move to a cushy BigLaw job defending corporations from antitrust enforcement?
March 12, 2023 | Common Dreams
Wilson’s Parting Shots Draw Attention To Her Actual Conflicts of Interest
Christine Wilson leaving the FTC is good news for anyone who cares about effective antitrust enforcement. A quintessential revolving door figure, Wilson’s tenure was only useful to her job prospects once she decided it was time to leave the FTC.
February 09, 2023 | The Sling
In Competition and Consumer Protection, The FTC Needs More Funding To Give Economic Power Back To Americans
Congressional Democrats managed to pass a few crucial measures during December’s lame duck session. One tiny fraction of the omnibus bill to fund the government was the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act, a measure for which anti-monopoly advocates have long been pushing. And beyond the DOJ Antitrust and FTC’s edict to enforce competition, the FTC has another underfunded but crucial mission: consumer protection.
December 19, 2022
Biden Can Protect Millions Of Vulnerable Tenants With The Stroke Of A Pen
Housing experts have drafted an executive order to protect tenants and stop rent-gouging. All Biden has to do is sign it.
November 11, 2022
Watchdog Groups Call On The FTC To Release Documents Shedding Light on Phillips Conflicts of Interest
On November 10th, eight groups sent a letter to Chair Khan urging the FTC to release documents shedding light on Commissioner Noah Phillips potential conflicts of interest as
October 21, 2022 | Common Dreams
Kroger Goes From Supermarket to Superpower
Is the corporate media doing a good enough job of explaining the machinations and implications of a merger between the nation’s two largest grocery chains?
September 22, 2022
FOIA Request: Is Big Tech’s Favorite FTC Commissioner Going To Lobby For Amazon?
Outgoing FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips recused himself from a recent FTC vote involving Amazon and BigLaw firm Covington & Burling. Revolving Door Project filed a FOIA request seeking information on Phillips’ post-employment plans and looked back on Phillips’ corporate-friendly record.
June 29, 2022
Biden Must Take On Refineries To Lower Gas Prices
Rising gas prices may not be a problem of the Biden administration’s making, but they are a problem it cannot afford to ignore. People across the country are feeling their effects, with some groups like gig workers and those in the trucking industry – which has seen an increase in layoffs as gas prices have risen – suffering more acutely. In the face of these difficult conditions, it is essential that the Biden administration take decisive action to ease the pain people are feeling right now and, in the medium-term, address the structural factors that created this crisis.
June 28, 2022
RELEASE: New Report Finds Extensive Revolving Door To Corporate Interests Undermines Robust Anti-Monopoly Enforcement
The Revolving Door Project published a new white paper, “The Revolving Door In Federal Antitrust Enforcement,” which presents new evidence of the extent and impact of the revolving door at both the leadership and staff levels between the Department of Justice Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission and corporate-aligned entities.
April 05, 2022
Putting Biden’s Antitrust Budget Increases In Context
The federal government may no longer be operating under the onus of Trump-era austerity, but agencies across the federal government are still far from having the resources they need to quickly and effectively fulfill their responsibilities to the American people. For the most part, President Biden’s proposed FY 2023 budget fails to fill that gap. However, increased funding for antitrust regulation is one of the bright spots in an otherwise uninspired budget. As we have covered in the past, both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (ATR) saw staffing levels stagnate and budget allocations that did not keep pace with inflation or GDP growth.
September 16, 2021 | The American Prospect
Closing the Revolving Door in Antitrust
Economic consulting firms hire former officials to undermine antitrust efforts. Here’s how to stop that.
August 16, 2021
Pharma’s Revolving Door Jeopardizes Biden’s Promise To Lower Drug Costs
Personnel vacancies and Big Pharma allies in the Biden administration threaten a landmark executive order on competition.
July 29, 2021
Biden's Executive Order Promises Relief For Farmers. Will It Deliver?
The administration’s staffing vacancies could undermine Biden’s promise to help family farms fight Big Ag monopolies.