Joyce Remarks At FY25 Budget Request For The Federal Trade Commission (As Prepared)

The Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government will come to order.

I’d like to welcome Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan. I appreciate your participation in today’s hearing to give members of the subcommittee the opportunity to discuss the Federal Trade Commission’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget request and conduct oversight over the Commission.

In my new role as chairman, I am eager to work with the members of this subcommittee and all of the agency heads under our jurisdiction as we work to fund the government in a timely, responsible way for Fiscal Year 2025.

I also look forward to conducting oversight of the agencies under our jurisdiction, including the FTC. It is for these purposes that we are gathered to hear testimony and ask questions today.

The Fiscal Year 2025 budget request for the Federal Trade Commission is $535 million dollars. That would require a nearly 35 percent plus up from the Fiscal Year 2024 enacted level.

Although funding for the FTC is partially offset by fees, the Commission’s Fiscal Year 2025 proposed budget is once again a request for a dramatic increase in funding for an agency whose work continues to raise concerns among many members of Congress and the public, including individuals, families, and businesses in Ohio’s 14th Congressional district.

Now, I’ll be honest, it would be difficult to support a 35 percent increase at the FTC or any agency under our jurisdiction. Current government spending levels are unsustainable. We have seen record deficits in recent years, in part due to COVID, and we have to reduce our spending.

Under this Administration, the FTC has prioritized the issuance of many polarizing regulations that push the legal boundaries of the Commission’s mission as established by Congress.

While the FTC has the responsibility, alongside the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, to promote competition, it also bears the responsibility to do so in a way that respects the rule of law and due process. It must ensure that its regulations are well-developed and accurately evaluated before their issuance.

Yet, over the last several years, there have been repeated instances of rulemaking that while purporting to benefit consumers and competition, clearly exceed its statutory authority. Some of these rules, such as the recently issued rule on non-competes could be well-intentioned, but in reality, goes too far and has the potential to stifle economic growth.

Other rules, such as the CARS rule, claim to be issued to protect consumers. But the rule lacks a clear justification and adds unnecessary burdens to consumers. Even the FTC decided to pump the brakes on this rule while a legal challenge against it is pending.

Similarly, last summer the FTC proposed changes to the premerger filing forms and notifications. As you know, fees from these forms fund much of the FTC’s work. I am concerned with the burden this new proposal will have on businesses. By the Commission’s own estimates, under the new rules, the time required for each filing will rise from an average of thirty-seven hours to an average of one hundred and forty-four hours. The FTC expects that some filings may take two hundred and twenty-two hours to prepare. While such large-scale filings will likely be managed by larger corporations that have the support of experienced attorneys, it is inevitable that some of the increased burden will also apply to small businesses and startups.

The constitutional and statutory foundation for these and other rules that the Commission has issued is severely lacking, and I look forward to discussing that further today.

And while I expect that much of the dialogue today will focus on the work produced by the FTC, I am also concerned about the work environment within it.

Shortly after the change in leadership at the FTC, staff reported their lack of trust in senior leadership’s honesty and integrity at an alarming level. Reports also indicated that senior leaders did not generate high levels of motivation or commitment in the workforce.

While those survey results have shown some improvement in 2023, it is my expectation that the Chair and all those working at senior levels at the FTC will continue to take necessary steps toward promoting and demonstrating workplace integrity. Particularly within an agency tasked with combatting deception, honesty should be a core pillar.

This subcommittee has jurisdiction over the federal workforce, and it is with that in mind that I will remain watchful of the levels of employee satisfaction and trust within the FTC.

I look forward to today’s dialogue to discuss these and other pertinent topics.

I’ll now turn to my friend and our Ranking Member, Mr. Hoyer, for his opening remarks.