Lina Khan Named FTC Chair by Biden in Victory for Tech’s Critics

President Joe Biden named Lina Khan chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission, according to people familiar with the matter, an unexpected move that puts one of the most prominent advocates of aggressive antitrust enforcement against U.S. technology giants in charge of the agency.

News of Khan’s appointment came hours after the Senate confirmed her for a seat on the FTC by a vote of 69-28. She will take over the agency from Acting Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, who has been a commissioner for three years and had been expected to be tapped by Biden to lead the agency permanently.

Khan’s elevation to chairwoman marks her rapid rise to the top of U.S. antitrust enforcement. Currently a professor at Columbia Law School, just a few years ago she was a law student at Yale University. Now she’s in charge of one of two agencies responsible for policing competition in the U.S. The other is the Justice Department’s antitrust division.

To contact the reporters on this story:
David McLaughlin in Washington at dmclaughlin9@bloomberg.net;
Josh Wingrove in Washington at jwingrove4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net

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