Republican FTC Commissioner Provokes Spat Over In-House Judges

A Republican on the Federal Trade Commission questioned the legality of a key component of the agency’s in-house court, lending support to an argument now being taken up by several companies fighting FTC lawsuits.

Laws shielding FTC administrative law judges from removal “unconstitutionally interfere” with a president’s power to control the executive branch, Commissioner Andrew N. Ferguson said in an Oct. 18 statement. “If the president does not control subordinate officers, then neither do the people,” he said.

Ferguson, a former chief counsel for Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) who joined the FTC in April, made the argument ...