Latest news with #FederalTradeCommissionBuilding
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump is trying to fire antitrust commissioners. They say it's 'blatantly illegal'
One of the entrances to the Federal Trade Commission Building in Washington, DC, that serves as the headquarters of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Two Democratic antitrust commissioners fighting in court for their jobs this week blasted Trump's attempt to fire them. In a court filing, they said the move would destabilize the economy and 'brush aside a century of precedent.' The Federal Trade Commission is one of two federal agencies tasked with enforcing antitrust law. In the past several years it has sued huge health care conglomerates, as well as big tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta. It also blocked the merger of grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons. So the FTC might not be terribly popular in some corporate boardrooms these days. Anticompetitive practices by giant players are thought to have resulted in lower wages and higher prices for consumers. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The other federal antitrust watchdog, the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department, has roots going back to 1903. But that department is overseen by the Attorney General, a presidential appointee. In 1914, Congress passed the Federal Trade Commission Act creating an antitrust watchdog that is more insulated from politics. It provided for a minimum number of appointees from each party, provided them with seven-year terms and allowed reappointment. Crucially, presidents can only remove them for 'inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.' Despite that, news broke in March that Trump was trying to fire commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter, both Democratic appointees. Trump was doing so without alleging any of the deficiencies required by the law to allow for their dismissal. In a social media post, Bedoya said Trump was trying to do a favor for his ultra-rich supporters. 'Now, the president wants the FTC to be a lapdog for his golfing buddies,' Bedoya wrote. Trump has also tried to remove commissioners from independent agencies such as the Federal Election Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Merit Systems Protections Board and the National Transportation Safety Board. Critics, including Slaughter and Bedoya, said that undermining such independent agencies would undermine faith in and the stability of the national economy. In a court brief justifying the FTC firings, Trump's lawyers wrote that following the provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act would improperly limit the president's authority. 'An order requiring the president to reinstate officials he has chosen to remove from office would be an extraordinary intrusion on the president's exclusive authority to exercise control over the executive branch,' the filing said, according to Newsweek. Lawyers for the Democratic FTC commissioners said that's a gross misreading of the law and history. Trump is asking the court 'to brush aside a century of precedent in favor of an untenable reading of (the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Seila Law v Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) that ignores broad swaths of that opinion, misconstrues the FTC's authority, side-steps much of U.S. history, and would overturn several Supreme Court decisions and invalidate two-dozen statutes adopted and adhered to by nearly every President and Congress over the last 150 years,' Bedoya and Slaughter's lawyers said in a court filing. Late last month, a Trump ally, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, made another move that critics said was intended to protect the president's wealthy supporters — particularly Elon Musk, the world's richest man — from antitrust enforcement. From his perch as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jordan tried to insert in a spending bill a measure that would move the FTC's personnel and funding to the Justice Department. However, it wouldn't have moved the FTC's unique enforcement powers along with them. Jordan later withdrew the measure. The Democratic FTC commissioners are fighting in court to stop Trump's attempt to fire them, calling it 'blatantly illegal.' They and lawyers for the president are asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to decide the case on an expedited basis. In a written statement, a lawyer for a firm representing the Democratic commissioners, Clarick, Gueron, Reisbaum, said Trump is ignoring past decisions of the judiciary. '… it's undisputed that his attempted firings violate the plain language of the FTC Act, and the President's claim to inherent executive authority to fire FTC Commissioners defies 90 years of Supreme Court precedent,' the lawyer, Aaron Crowell, said. A lawyer for another group representing Slaughter and Bedoya, Protect Democracy, said Trump is trying to ignore not only the courts, but Congress as well. And in so doing, the president threatens to destabilize the U.S. economy, said the lawyer, Amit Agarwal. 'Congress had good reasons for protecting regulators from at-will removal, not the least of which is that agencies like the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Reserve need to have the ability to make critical decisions with integrity and to apply the law without fear or favor,'Agarwal said. 'When the Supreme Court settled this dispute nine decades ago, it decided in favor of Congress's right to protect the public interest. We hope the courts do so again.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
As Trump tries to fire them, antitrust officials continue to investigate the medical sector
One of the entrances to the Federal Trade Commission Building in Washington, DC, that serves as the headquarters of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). President Donald Trump is trying to fire two members of the Federal Trade Commission. But on Monday night they said they're continuing their work to root out anticompetitive practices by health care companies. Then on Tuesday came news that some of their work against insulin manufacturers could be unraveling as a result of Trump's actions. Commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya appeared in a virtual health care roundtable aimed at highlighting ways in which corporate concentration in that sector is driving up prices and hurting patients. The event was sponsored by the group Fight Corporate Monopolies. And it appeared that part of the purpose was to show that Slaughter and Bedoya were still on the job as they fight Trump in court. Critics say the president's attempt in March to fire the Democratic commissioners was a corrupt favor to tech billionaires who bankrolled Trump's campaign and his inauguration. Antitrust advocates: Trump's FTC firings are a favor to his billionaire buddies Monday's roundtable had to do with concerns Trump himself has expressed — that huge health care conglomerates are using middlemen and other practices to drive up the cost of drugs and other care. Alvaro Bedoya, who was appointed to the FTC by former President Joe Biden, said increasing corporate control of the health sector is partly responsible for the fact that Americans pay by far the most for care, yet have among the worst health outcomes among developed nations. 'The state of American health care is shameful and embarrassing — the impact it has on regular people,' he said. 'It's shameful and embarrassing what happens when people get a cancer diagnosis. They're forced to fundraise from friends and family as many of them go bankrupt. It's shameful and embarrassing that life expectancy in this country is years (less) than what it could be. It's even more embarrassing that people living paycheck-to-paycheck have even more years taken away from them.' He added, 'It's hard to look at the system and not see that at least some substantial part of those problems are caused by concentration and consolidation in the health care industry.' Among the things Bedoya and Slaughter did to get a grasp of the situation was in 2022 to order a study of the conduct of pharmacy middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers. The biggest three are part of the conglomerates UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health, and Cigna-Express Scripts. They handle nearly 80% of the insured drug transactions in the United States. Last July, the FTC released an interim report saying that the companies appeared to be improperly pushing up prices and hurting patients. Then in October, the FTC sued them on allegations that they were gouging patients who needed insulin to stay alive. But by early Tuesday evening came word that the FTC's general counsel was staying that suit, possibly because there aren't enough commioners with undisputed standing to hear it. 'Today, the General Counsel of the FTC stayed the administrative adjudication of the Commission's case against the three largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) over the price of insulin,' Slaughter and Bedoya said in a joint statement. 'He, not any sitting commissioner, took this action; there are no Commissioners available at the FTC to adjudicate this case as a result of the Trump Administration's attempt to remove us. Sadly, this was an entirely foreseeable consequence of illegally attempting to fire the minority Commissioners.' They added, 'The American people deserve a fair and timely adjudication of the serious allegations in the FTC's complaint. We strongly object to the pause in this matter. Here, justice delayed will be justice denied. It is hard to think of a matter that is more important.' During Monday's roundtable, Utah pharmacist Sheldon Birch described other problems in the pharmaceutical space. He said pharmacies such as his have no choice about signing the contracts the big pharmacy middlemen put before them. Birch said the reimbursements he gets under those contracts make it hard to stay in business. 'We see a massive transfer of wealth from Main Street to Wall Street,' he said. 'It's a problem. I'm a capitalist. I own businesses. But we need to have some help so we can have a playing field that is fair… Help me keep my small business alive. Help keep the dollars and cents on America's small-town main streets.' Slaughter, who took a Democratic seat on the FTC during Trump's first term, said the antitrust laws the agency is supposed to enforce are intended to stop unfair flows of cash from Main Street to Wall Street. 'The law does not contemplate that,' she said. 'This isn't what the law was designed to protect.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Carmen Comsti of National Nurses United said harm caused by corporate concentration extends beyond pharmacy. She said the 2019 purchase of non-profit hospital Mission Health in Asheville, N.C., by for-profit HCA Healthcare harmed the residents of a rural region. HCA closed a cancer center, a wheelchair clinic, primary-care clinics, and it reduced charity care, geriatric services, security and hospital chaplains at the western North Carolina facility, Comsti said. 'It's not just what health care systems are doing to get market control,' she said. 'It's what they're doing to our communities with that power.' Deb Keaveny, a Minnesota pharmacist, said it's important for Trump to keep politics out of antitrust enforcement. 'We are deeply concerned about the administration's recent decisions,' she said, 'Americans need reassurance that the FTC can and will stop anticompetitive practices in the corporate monopolization of health care. This isn't a partisan issue and the removals (of Bedoya and Slaughter) put ongoing studies, investigations and actions in jeopardy and weaken enforcement.' Bedoya seemed eager to get back to a sole focus on his day job. 'My hope is that we can get back to normal and start pushing this work forward,' he said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Antitrust advocates: Trump's FTC firings are a favor to his billionaire buddies
One of the entrances to the Federal Trade Commission Building in Washington, DC, that serves as the headquarters of the Federal Trade Commission (photo courtesy of FTC). Antitrust watchdogs are blasting President Donald Trump's attempt on Tuesday to remove two Democratic-appointed members of the Federal Trade Commission. Trump's attempted firing of commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter are illegal usurpations of congressional authority, they say, and raise serious questions about whether Trump is doing the bidding of big corporations the commission was created to police. The White House confirmed the firings to Reuters, which first reported the news. Slaughter and Bedoya reportedly plan to sue to reverse the firings. But on Wednesday, their bios were removed from the section of the FTC website dedicated to current commissioners. Andrew Ferguson, a former aide to U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., whom Trump appointed to chair the commission, acquiesced in Trump's move. Ferguson posted on X that he had 'no doubts about (Trump's) constitutional authority to remove commissioners, which is necessary to ensure democratic accountability of our government.' The firings are another instance in which Trump has tried to undercut the power of independent federal agencies. In the case of the FTC, it was created by Congress in 1914, its members are confirmed by the Senate, and despite Ferguson's claim, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1935 ruled unanimously that presidents aren't allowed to remove commissioners without showing good cause. Also raising concern is that Trump is removing commissioners who have acted aggressively to enforce antitrust law after a 40-year hiatus under Republican and Democratic administrations. Bedoya and Slaughter have voted with the Commission to sue health conglomerates over allegations that they are illegally raising the cost of insulin, they acted to block the Kroger-Albertson's mega-merger, and they voted to sue Amazon, saying it is 'illegally maintaining monopoly power.' Stacy Mitchell, co-executive director of the Institute for Local Self Reliance, said the firings appear to be Trump's way of paying back to the big tech billionaires who have paid him millions. 'By violating the FTC's independence and attempting to gut this crucial law-enforcement agency, President Trump is fulfilling the wishes of the Big Tech oligarchs and other powerful corporations who financed and backed his campaign,' Mitchell said in a statement. 'This is a corrupt bid to allow dominant corporations to prey on American consumers, workers, and small businesses with impunity.' In December, Mitchell told the Capital Journal that decades of non-enforcement of antitrust laws — including the 1936 Robinson Patman Act — facilitated the rise of big box stores, food deserts, and inflating grocery prices. Frustration over rising consumer costs contributed to Trump's Nov. 5 victory, she said. In her statement Tuesday, Mitchell said his attempted firing of Bedoya and Slaughter breaks faith with a public that is seeking relief from the squeeze of corporate consolidation. 'President Trump's attempt to fire two members of the Federal Trade Commission is an illegal and outrageous affront to the American people,' she said. 'Congress established the Commission as an independent agency in order to ensure its effectiveness in upholding the law and protecting Americans from concentrated corporate power and abuse.' In a 2022 interview with the Capital Journal, Bedoya, then a new commissioner, said his research had convinced him that the goal of antitrust law is fairness to everyday Americans. 'Read why Congress passed these laws and you cannot read those debates and not understand that antitrust was intended to ensure fairness for small business and rural America,' he said. 'Now is a critical time to remember that and make sure we're being true to the original purpose of those laws.' On Tuesday, he said his firing was illegal, and he said Trump was putting the interests of his rich friends over those of the American people. 'The FTC is an independent agency founded 111 years ago to fight fraudsters and monopolists. Our staff is unafraid of the (former drug exec and securities fraudster) Martin Shkrelis and (Amazon founder) Jeff Bezos of the world. They take them to court and win,' Bedoya wrote on X. 'Now, the president wants the FTC to be a lapdog for his golfing buddies.' Bedoya added that with Slaughter and former Chair Lina Khan, 'I spent my time at the FTC fighting for small town grocers and pharmacists and for people in Indian country going hungry because food was too expensive. I fought for workers getting screwed on pay and benefits and overtime. I fought for their right to organize. I fought tech companies who think they can track you and your kids every hour of every day so they can pocket their next billion.' Bedoya asked, 'Who will the FTC work for? Will it work for the billionaires? Or will it work for you?' Another antitrust activist, Nidhi Hegde, executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project, called on Congress to step in and defend its prerogative. 'Independent agencies like the FTC exist to enforce the law as written by Congress and protect the public interest — not to be gutted at the whim of a president,' she said in a statement. 'The president's demand is illegal and void, and must not be accepted by Commissioners Bedoya and Slaughter. If the Trump administration continues to pursue this unconstitutional path, it is time for Congress to step in to defend the law and the authority of these two commissioners.' The attempted firings are another move by the nascent Trump administration that could be seen as placing the interests of the rich and powerful over those of American consumers. Elon Musk, the world's richest man, is working with Trump in an unofficial capacity to slash government agencies on claims that he wants efficiency. One of the first agencies to fall under Musk's ax was the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has recovered tens of billions for consumers from payday lenders, big banks charging duplicate fees, and other predatory businesses. Tellingly, perhaps, the agency is also investigating potentially anticompetitive practices by big tech companies. The attempt to shut down the consumer protection bureau is held up in court. But Musk, who owns several big tech companies, in February took to social media to crow, 'CFPB RIP,' the New York Times reported. This story originally appeared in the Ohio Capital Journal, a States Newsroom affiliate.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Antitrust advocates: Trump's FTC firings is a favor to his billionaire buddies
One of the entrances to the Federal Trade Commission Building in Washington, DC, that serves as the headquarters of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Antitrust watchdogs are blasting President Donald Trump's attempt on Tuesday to remove two Democratic-appointed members of the Federal Trade Commission. Trump's attempted firing of commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter are illegal usurpations of congressional authority, they say, and raise serious questions about whether Trump is doing the bidding of big corporations the commission was created to police. The White House confirmed the firings to Reuters, which first reported the news. Slaughter and Bedoya reportedly plan to sue to reverse the firings. But on Wednesday, their bios were removed from the section of the FTC website dedicated to current commissioners. Andrew Ferguson, a former aide to U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., whom Trump appointed to chair the commission, acquiesced in Trump's move. Ferguson posted on X that he had 'no doubts about (Trump's) constitutional authority to remove commissioners, which is necessary to ensure democratic accountability of our government.' The firings are another instance in which Trump has tried to undercut the power of independent federal agencies. In the case of the FTC, it was created by Congress in 1914, its members are confirmed by the Senate, and despite Ferguson's claim, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1935 ruled unanimously that presidents aren't allowed to remove commissioners without showing good cause. Feds allege sweeping scheme to raise customer costs for insulin Also raising concern is that Trump is removing commissioners who have acted aggressively to enforce antitrust law after a 40-year hiatus under Republican and Democratic administrations. Bedoya and Slaughter have voted with the Commission to sue health conglomerates over allegations that they are illegally raising the cost of insulin, they acted to block the Kroger-Albertson's mega-merger, and they voted to sue Amazon, saying it is 'illegally maintaining monopoly power.' Stacy Mitchell, co-executive director of the Institute for Local Self Reliance, said the firings appear to be Trump's way of paying back to the big tech billionaires who have paid him millions. 'By violating the FTC's independence and attempting to gut this crucial law-enforcement agency, President Trump is fulfilling the wishes of the Big Tech oligarchs and other powerful corporations who financed and backed his campaign,' Mitchell said in a statement. 'This is a corrupt bid to allow dominant corporations to prey on American consumers, workers, and small businesses with impunity.' In December, Mitchell told the Capital Journal that decades of non-enforcement of antitrust laws — including the 1936 Robinson Patman Act — facilitated the rise of big box stores, food deserts, and inflating grocery prices. Frustration over rising consumer costs contributed to Trump's Nov. 5 victory, she said. In her statement Tuesday, Mitchell said his attempted firing of Bedoya and Slaughter breaks faith with a public that is seeking relief from the squeeze of corporate consolidation. 'President Trump's attempt to fire two members of the Federal Trade Commission is an illegal and outrageous affront to the American people,' she said. 'Congress established the Commission as an independent agency in order to ensure its effectiveness in upholding the law and protecting Americans from concentrated corporate power and abuse.' In a 2022 interview with the Capital Journal, Bedoya, then a new commissioner, said his research had convinced him that the goal of antitrust law is fairness to everyday Americans. 'Read why Congress passed these laws and you cannot read those debates and not understand that antitrust was intended to ensure fairness for small business and rural America,' he said. 'Now is a critical time to remember that and make sure we're being true to the original purpose of those laws.' On Tuesday, he said his firing was illegal, and he said Trump was putting the interests of his rich friends over those of the American people. 'The FTC is an independent agency founded 111 years ago to fight fraudsters and monopolists. Our staff is unafraid of the (former drug exec and securities fraudster) Martin Shkrelis and (Amazon founder) Jeff Bezos of the world. They take them to court and win,' Bedoya wrote on X. 'Now, the president wants the FTC to be a lapdog for his golfing buddies.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Bedoya added that with Slaughter and former Chair Lina Khan, 'I spent my time at the FTC fighting for small town grocers and pharmacists and for people in Indian country going hungry because food was too expensive. I fought for workers getting screwed on pay and benefits and overtime. I fought for their right to organize. I fought tech companies who think they can track you and your kids every hour of every day so they can pocket their next billion.' Bedoya asked, 'Who will the FTC work for? Will it work for the billionaires? Or will it work for you?' Another antitrust activist, Nidhi Hegde, executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project, called on Congress to step in and defend its prerogative. 'Independent agencies like the FTC exist to enforce the law as written by Congress and protect the public interest — not to be gutted at the whim of a president,' she said in a statement. 'The president's demand is illegal and void, and must not be accepted by Commissioners Bedoya and Slaughter. If the Trump administration continues to pursue this unconstitutional path, it is time for Congress to step in to defend the law and the authority of these two commissioners.' The attempted firings are another move by the nascent Trump administration that could be seen as placing the interests of the rich and powerful over those of American consumers. Elon Musk, the world's richest man, is working with Trump in an unofficial capacity to slash government agencies on claims that he wants efficiency. One of the first agencies to fall under Musk's ax was the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has recovered tens of billions for consumers from payday lenders, big banks charging duplicate fees, and other predatory businesses. Tellingly, perhaps, the agency is also investigating potentially anticompetitive practices by big tech companies. The attempt to shut down the consumer protection bureau is held up in court. But Musk, who owns several big tech companies, in February took to social media to crow, 'CFPB RIP,' the New York Times reported. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
As his first act, new Federal Trade Commission antitrust watchdog attacks diversity and inclusion
One of the entrances to the Federal Trade Commission Building in Washington, DC, that serves as the headquarters of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The high cost of everything might have been a major issue in last year's presidential campaign. But when Andrew N. Ferguson took the helm last week at the Federal Trade Commission, his first act wasn't to announce new ways to crack down on corporate practices thought to be unfairly driving up consumer prices for everything from food to housing to medicine to entertainment. Instead, it was to say that federal efforts at diversity and inclusion were a 'scourge' and that his first official act would be to close the agency's office that was intended to create a more diverse workforce. He said such efforts were a scourge because they stoked 'tensions by elevating race and other immutable characteristics above merit and excellence.' 'The Biden-Harris Administration reveled in this pernicious ideology,' Ferguson's statement said. 'They encouraged it, and it has festered within the federal government for four years.' Ferguson's office said it had nothing to add when asked how getting rid of the agency's diversity and inclusion office would end abusive practices by mega-corporations and bring down prices for consumers. This was in spite of the fact that President Donald Trump on the first day of his presidency issued an executive order that all government agencies work to relieve suffering consumers. Since Trump's election on Nov. 5, observers have speculated about what his administration would actually do regarding antitrust enforcement, and Ferguson's first act might shed some light. Diversity and inclusion efforts might be turning into an all-purpose scapegoat for the new administration. Trump on Thursday blamed attempts at diversity by the Federal Aviation Administration for a mid-air collision over the Potomac River that killed scores near Washington, D.C. The investigation was just beginning, and Trump offered no evidence to support his claim. Meanwhile, others have for years been offering evidence that concentrated corporate power might be making average Americans worse off. Since about 1980, many laws aimed at protecting small businesses, consumers and farmers haven't been enforced on the rationale that the resulting corporate consolidation would create efficiencies that are better for consumers in the long run. More recent experience has led many to question that, however. For example, research from last year suggests that when retail giant Walmart moves to a community, it makes the average resident poorer because it drives out small businesses that pay better wages — and the difference swamps whatever savings customers enjoy, The Atlantic reported. In other industries, a few players have become so dominant that they've raised suspicions that they're forcing out competition, in part by forcing suppliers to give them better deals than their smaller competitors. After 40 years of non-enforcement, the FTC under Biden revived enforcement of a law prohibiting that — the Robinson Patman Act of 1936. In December, the agency sued the nation's largest wine-and-spirits distributor, Southern Glazer's, alleging that it was giving substantially better terms to its biggest customers and thus violating the law. In recent years, the FTC has also brought suit in other sectors, accusing Amazon of abuses in online retail, and John Deere of not sharing computer codes with farmers so they can repair their own implements. The agency also sued — and last year stopped — the merger of two grocery giants, Ohio-based Kroger and Albertsons, saying that the resulting mega-grocer would only exacerbate high grocery prices by sapping feeble retail competition even further. That's after the FTC last March accused Kroger, Amazon and Walmart of exploiting supply-chain kinks during the pandemic to artificially raise food prices — and profits. Alvaro Bedoya, a Biden appointee to the commission, last week cited those actions in a dissent from Ferguson's first act. He accused the new chair of playing up one Trump priority — ending diversity programs — while ignoring another that is at the core of the FTC's mission. 'Andrew Ferguson could have made his first public act as Chairman a motion to study the rising cost of groceries,' Bedoya wrote. 'He could have acted on a pending public petition from a group of wall and ceiling contractors to investigate how lawbreaking contractors can effectively rig contract competitions in the commercial construction industry.' In his Jan. 20 executive order to bring relief to average Americans, Trump told agency heads to find ways to bring down the cost of 'fuel, food, housing, automobiles, medical care, utilities, and insurance.' He spent much of the order blaming Biden and unspecified government regulation for those costs, but he also ordered subordinates to 'eliminate unnecessary administrative expenses and rent-seeking practices that increase health care costs.' That could be a reference to massive health conglomerates whose pharmacy middlemen are accused of jacking up drug prices far in excess of the value they add. Last September, the FTC sued the companies over the way they conduct insulin transactions. Trump in December slammed pharmacy middlemen just as the toughest regulations of the health care giants were built into a bipartisan spending package. But after billionaire allies Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy criticized the package, Trump threw his support behind a new deal in which the new regulations were stripped out. In his dissent to Ferguson's first order, Bedoya, the FTC commissioner, appeared to be throwing down the gauntlet to Ferguson and, by extension, Trump. Ferguson 'could have moved to investigate a pending public petition from shrimpers from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama to investigate potentially false and misleading claims about shrimp imports from India that are farmed with forced labor and shot full of antibiotics,' Bedoya wrote. 'Chairman Ferguson could have done any number of things to actually lower the cost of living and create opportunities for American businesses and workers. He did none of them. Instead, he cancelled 'DEI.'' 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