Waukesha Times

WASHINGTON, DC– On July 28, 2023, Congressman Scott Fitzgerald (WI-05) co-lead a letter with Congressman Kevin Kiley (CA-03) to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan regarding the agency’s waste of time and use of taxpayer dollars to litigate failed merger challenges.

“FTC Chair Lina Khan is 0-4 in her merger challenges. This losing streak was of course made possible by millions of taxpayer dollars and thousands of staff hours chasing completely lawful mergers down a hole,” said Rep. Fitzgerald.“Despite being delivered loss after loss, Khan has been left undeterred requesting $190 million more in funding from Congress. Khan is well outside the lines of acceptable conduct at the agency and Congress should not support the unaccountability with more funding.”

“Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan is 0-4 in legal challenges to mergers. Her trial strategy raises the question – is Khan intentionally using taxpayer money to lose cases, all in an effort to expand her agency’s authority? Today’s request for information will allow Congress to hold Khan accountable and ensure taxpayer dollars are not wasted on frivolous litigation,” said Congressman Kevin Kiley (R-CA-03).

In the letter, the members requested responses to the following questions:

1. The amount of funds spent on litigation in each of the mentioned cases in the letter.
2. The amount of staff hours spent on these cases.
3. A list of outside experts, including their affiliate organizations, in each of the cases and the amount paid to each expert and their affiliate organizations.
4. The amount of funds spent on outside counsel, if any, in each of the cases.
5. All recommendation memorandum prepared by FTC staff that discuss each of the cases.

Original source can be found here.