March marked the end of the first quarter of President Obama’s second term, and he has yet to select a nominee for the fifth and final commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission seat. The FTC is composed of five members, nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, who serve staggered seven-year terms. No more than three commissioners can be of the same political party. With former Democratic FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz’s departure in January, the FTC is currently split with two Democrats and two Republicans.
Howard Shelanski, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Economics, commented at a conference in Washington, D.C., last month that the 2-2 split at the FTC could last “for a long time.” Not only will Obama have to nominate the proposed commissioner, the nominee must be confirmed by the Senate, a sometimes lengthy and controversial process. When Obama nominated William J. Baer to serve as the Department of Justice’s assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division in February 2012, it took over 10 long months before the Senate finally approved Baer’s nomination.
