WASHINGTON – Today, Competitiveness Coalition Chair Scott Brown applauded Republican leaders on a key House panel for rejecting the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) budget request for a nearly 25 percent increase in funding. The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government this morning passed its Financial Services and General Government FY 2025 bill, which included $388.7 million for the Commission – a $37 million cut from last year’s enacted level and $146.3 million below what the FTC requested in March. The bill goes to the full House Appropriations Committee for consideration.

“An agency that’s working hard every day against the country’s consumers and businesses should not be rewarded with a pay raise – particularly as the FTC panders to progressives ahead of the election,” said Chair Scott Brown. “FTC Chair Lina Khan’s disdain for supporting U.S. commerce is all too clear and that’s why conservatives in the House deserve kudos for cutting agency funding. We applaud House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole and Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Chair Dave Joyce for their shrewd attentiveness to this funding package and encourage conservatives to support and pass this legislation.”

The House package arrives as the FTC faces concerns and backlash regarding its left-wing attacks, collusion with European regulators, questionable use of federal resources, and  knee-capping of U.S. businesses at a time when a majority of Americans are already sour on the economy. Earlier this year, European Commission regulators acknowledged that they were “in close contact with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission,” throughout their investigation into the iRobot-Amazon acquisition, which was later abandoned and resulted in 350 American jobs needlessly lost. This spring, the Commission passed a non-compete ban, an action so blatantly unilateral that even The Washington Post editorial board criticized the move, stating “the FTC might not actually have the legal authority to enact any rule in this area.”

Since 2022, the Competitiveness Coalition has been sounding the alarm on the FTC’s and DOJ’s egregious overreach and concerning actions. To learn more about the Coalition’s work on this front, please visit www.competitivenesscoalition.com.

Members of the press can contact the coalition at press@competitivenesscoalition.com.

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The Competitiveness Coalition is a first-of-its-kind group educating the public and advocating for policies that put consumers first while fostering innovation and attracting new investment.