The Administration · Money, markets and the airwaves
FTC Chairman
A former aide to Mitch McConnell, he chairs the consumer protection and antitrust agency whose Democratic members the president fired, a move the Supreme Court upheld in June 2026.
Andrew Ferguson was born in Harrisonburg, Virginia, in 1986 and earned his undergraduate and law degrees at the University of Virginia. 1 2 He clerked for Judge Karen Henderson of the federal appeals court in Washington and for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and practiced at Washington law firms. 2 He then worked for Senate Republicans: as counsel on the Judiciary Committee during the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation and later as chief counsel to Republican leader Mitch McConnell. 1 2
He served as solicitor general of Virginia from January 2022 to April 2024. 1 President Biden nominated him to a Republican seat on the Federal Trade Commission in July 2023; the Senate confirmed him in March 2024 and he was sworn in on April 3, 2024. 1 As a commissioner he voted against a ban on worker non-compete agreements and against rules on subscription cancellation and hidden fees. 1
Trump announced in December 2024 that he would make Ferguson chairman, and he took the chair on January 20, 2025. 1 He closed the agency's diversity office, opened an inquiry into what he called censorship by technology platforms and, in March 2025, backed the president's firing of the commission's two Democrats, Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya. 1 He has said the commission is not independent of the president. 1
On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the president may remove commissioners at will, overturning a 1935 precedent. 3 The agency has kept bringing cases: with 22 states it sued Amazon in August 2026 over advertising auction prices, and in October and November it sued to block two mergers and opened an inquiry into personalized pricing. 4 5
The acts and events that have defined the post so far, oldest first.
Moved to close the agency's diversity office and ordered employees back to the office full time. 1
Opened a public inquiry into alleged censorship by technology platforms. 1
The agency opened an investigation of the watchdog group Media Matters for America over an alleged advertiser boycott of the platform X. 1
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Trump v. Slaughter that the law protecting commissioners from removal is unconstitutional, overturning Humphrey's Executor. 3
The commission and state partners sued Amazon, alleging it secretly inflated what advertisers paid in its search-advertising auctions; an updated complaint on November 5 added detail. 4
Ordered nine airlines, ride-share and food-delivery companies to hand over information on personalized pricing. 5
Sued to block veterinary distributor Covetrus from buying rival MWI for $3.5 billion. 5
What critics, courts or investigators have said, and the answer given. An allegation is not a finding.
Slaughter and Bedoya sued, saying the law allows removal only for inefficiency, neglect or malfeasance; a district judge sided with Slaughter in July 2025 before the Supreme Court reversed. After the ruling Slaughter said it lets presidents replace watchdogs with loyalists. 3
Their side: Ferguson has said the commission is not independent of the president and supported the firings. 1
The Media Matters investigation drew criticism as a use of the agency against a group that had reported on the platform owned by Elon Musk, according to Wikipedia's summary. 1
Their side: He has accused advertisers of coordinating to pull money from platforms over disagreements about their direction. 1
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, FBI Director Kash Patel and other top officials held a St. Cloud press conference Friday, four days before the midterm election, calling Minnesota 'ground zero' for fraud and announcing new enforcement actions.
Five top federal officials are set to announce anti-fraud steps in Minnesota on Friday, four days before the midterms. The state has been a central target of the administration's fraud push.
The Federal Trade Commission wants nine major companies to turn over records on how algorithms and loyalty programs may set different prices for the same product — and different pay for the same work. The inquiry lands five days before the midterm election, with voters ranking the cost of living as their top issue.
File checked Nov. 13, 2026. Something wrong or out of date? Tell the desk.
