Last month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requested over a 37 percent increase to its 2024 budget. If approved, this would mark one of the highest budget increases in the history of the FTC. Given FTC Chair Lina Khan's "big is bad" ideology, many observers expect this enlarged budget will lead to more investigations, lawsuits, and rule making from the agency that will target firms based on size without considering consumer welfare.
The proposal would bring the FTC's total budget for FY 2024 up to $590 million and allow for the hiring of 1,690 full-time staff. Many new staffers will focus on the FTC's stated interest in expanding its investigation and litigation capacities. This hiring boost means more lawsuits aimed at companies the FTC perceives as having anti-competitive conduct. In that litigious spirit, the FTC is willing to go after firms simply for being too big, threatening the four decades of consensus around the consumer welfare standard.
