The composition of the Federal Trade Commissioners is changing. Last February, President Barack Obama appointed Commissioner Jon Leibowitz as Chairman.1 Then in November, the president nominated Julie Brill and Edith Ramirez to fill the two vacancies left by the departure of Deborah Platt Majoras in March 2008 and the end of Pamela Jones Harbour’s term. Following a hearing on Dec. 15, 2009, the Senate subcommittee on Commerce, Science and Transportation approved the two nominees.2 Their nominations now go to the full Senate for confirmation.
In examining these nominations and Mr. Leibowitz’s appointment, two themes emerge. First, the commission is balkanizing. Historically, the commission was composed of a group of generalists with experience over all conduct subject to the agency’s jurisdiction. However, Mr. Obama’s current FTC nominees lack substantial substantive antitrust enforcement experience. Their expertise lies principally in consumer protection. This leaves only two commissioners with significant antitrust and merger enforcement expertise: Commissioners J. Thomas Rosch and William Kovacic.
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