FTC chair says he’d ‘obey lawful orders’ if Trump asked to drop an antitrust case like Meta’s

Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson has refused to perpetrate to resisting President Donald Trump if helium ordered the bureau to driblet its antitrust suit against Meta, saying helium would “obey lawful orders” and calling the script “a hypothetical.” His comments, made astatine a tech argumentation lawsuit successful Washington, DC, followed a league wherever Ferguson reaffirmed his content that autarkic regulatory agencies are “not bully for a democracy.”

Ferguson appeared astatine an antitrust-focused lawsuit hosted by Y Combinator connected Wednesday, branded arsenic the “Little Tech Competition Summit.” The FTC is set to statesman its blockbuster anti-monopoly proceedings against Meta successful conscionable a mates of weeks, making a lawsuit that — successful an utmost script — could interruption up the company. Yet Trump has proven consenting to pardon allies oregon test ineligible bounds to enactment them. Ferguson has pledged beardown fealty to him, declaring past month that Trump “is the main enforcement and is vested with each the enforcement powerfulness successful our government,” including the powerfulness to region commissioners.

Asked by The Verge how he’d respond if the president asked him to driblet a lawsuit similar Meta’s, Ferguson said, “the President’s caput of the enforcement branch, and I deliberation it’s important for maine to obey lawful orders.” But, helium added, “I deliberation that the President recognizes that we’ve got to enforce the laws, truthful I’d beryllium precise amazed if thing similar that ever happened.”

Ferguson said helium would not entertain a hypothetical astir whether an bid similar that would beryllium lawful. “I can’t ideate it happening,” helium said.

Trump has already taken unprecedented steps to asseverate powerfulness implicit autarkic agencies including the FTC, and Ferguson has truthful acold welcomed them. Trump signed an executive order successful February claiming that autarkic bureau officials should beryllium taxable to “supervision and control” by the president. The pursuing month, Trump broke decades of Supreme Court precedent by attempting to fire the agency’s 2 Democratic commissioners without cause, an enactment Ferguson said the president is empowered to take. Recently, The Verge first reported, FTC unit was instructed to halt labeling the bureau arsenic “independent” erstwhile describing it arsenic a plaintiff successful ineligible complaints.

Onstage astatine Wednesday’s event, Ferguson told Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan that Trump’s commissioner firings wouldn’t interaction however tech founders interact with the agency, and the FTC seat took the accidental to grow connected his position astir the agency’s independence. “My presumption astir the FTC’s ngo is wholly unchanged,” helium said, adding that he’s “firmly of the view” that Trump had authorization to occurrence his colleagues and that autarkic agencies are “not bully for a democracy.” That’s because, helium said, “all almighty enforcement subdivision officials” should beryllium accountable to the people, ”and the lone idiosyncratic successful the enforcement subdivision that gets elected is the president.” 

Not agelong aft Ferguson’s quality astatine the Little Tech Competition Summit, a CNN newsman shared connected X that Mark Zuckerberg was spotted walking into the West Wing of the White House. 

Alvaro Bedoya, 1 of the Democratic commissioners Trump has attempted to fire, has antecedently told The Washington Post that Ferguson is “no person to Big Tech.” But, helium wondered, what would hap if the White House called him up to inquire him to settee a lawsuit oregon halt an investigation? “Will helium obey?” Bedoya asked. That question, for now, remains unanswered.