Joseph Simons
President Donald Trump is reportedly thinking of bypassing the current Republican acting chair of the Federal Trade Commission in favor of Paul, Weiss partner Joseph Simons. Simons is the current co-chair of the Antitrust Group at Paul, Weiss and has previous experience at the FTC — he was the chief of the FTC’s competition bureau under President George W. Bush.
Though it should be noted the president has not made his final decision on the position, he is expected to announce his pick in September.
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The acting chair, Maureen Ohlhausen, has been a Republican commissioner with the FTC since 2012. According to Bloomberg, she’s been actively campaigning for the permanent position:
After becoming acting chairman, Ohlhausen criticized the Democratic-led agency under the Obama administration, saying it imposed “unnecessary costs” on businesses. She also vowed to lead the FTC with “regulatory humility” and promoted a campaign she called “Economic Liberty” to examine occupational licensing requirements that she said raised barriers for entering certain professions.
There are currently three positions on the five-seat commission open. For the open Republican seat Noah Phillips, chief counsel for Senator John Cornyn, and Christine Wilson, an in-house lawyer at Delta Air Lines Inc., are rumored to be in the running. For the Democrat seat, senior fellow at the Consumer Federation of America, Rohit Chopra’s name has been floated.
As with many positions in his administration, President Trump is somewhat behind schedule in filling the opening. The previous two administrations have appointed their FTC chairs in February and March of the years they took office.
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Trump Favors Outside Candidate Simons to Lead FTC [Bloomberg]
Kathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).