US FTC chair seeks to trim agency by around 10%

Jody Godoy

Thu, May 15, 2025, 9:50 AM 2 min read

By Jody Godoy

(Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is looking to trim its headcount by astir 10%, its president told Congress connected Thursday, insisting the bureau volition beryllium capable to proceed antitrust and user extortion enactment with what would beryllium its smallest unit successful 10 years.

The FTC is successful the midst of an "unprecedented time," pursuing antimonopoly cases against companies including Meta Platforms, Amazon and Deere & Co, portion going aft the largest pharmacy payment managers implicit insulin pricing, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson told a U.S. House of Representatives panel.

But helium said shrinking the bureau further would not hamper that work.

"In presumption of accomplishing our mission, we tin execute the ngo with 1,100 employees. I person nary uncertainty astir it. Because our radical are really, truly good, and we person shifted our priority, particularly distant from rulemaking," Ferguson said.

So acold this year, 94 employees person departed the agency, leaving 1,221 full-time employees, Ferguson said. While it laid disconnected a fistful of probationary employees, the bureau is offering buyouts and has not yet enacted reductions successful force.

Ferguson did not disclose the details of the FTC's fund request, but said astir 1,100 was a steadfast staffing level fixed the agency's existent funding. Ferguson's predecessor, Lina Khan, had hired much unit than the bureau could afford, helium said.

The bureau has besides brought down its declaration spending by much than $6 cardinal this year, Ferguson said. Two workers from the Department of Government Efficiency person helped place contracts to beryllium chopped oregon scaled back, helium added.

The bureau is eyeing ways to trim its spending connected extracurricular information retention providers, and curb the bills from adept proceedings witnesses that tin tally arsenic precocious arsenic $30 cardinal for 1 case.

Ferguson responded to concerns that DOGE, the Elon Musk-led inaugural to downsize the government, could summation entree to confidential concern information, including connected Musk's competitors, that the FTC uses to reappraisal mergers.

He said DOGE workers are taxable to the aforesaid restrictions arsenic each different FTC employees and cannot entree accusation without due justification.

(Reporting by Jody Godoy successful New York; Editing by Chris Reese)