GOP Senator Credits FTC’s Khan for Antitrust Approach

FTC Chair Lina Khan is one of the “few” Biden administration officials who’s “doing a pretty good job,” Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, said Tuesday at RemedyFest. He credited Khan with building a pro-competitive marketplace that accounts for more than just consumer prices. Many Republicans believe Khan is engaging in “fundamentally evil” behavior, given her aggressive approach to competition policy, said Vance: “I look at Lina Khan as one of the few people in the Biden administration who I think is actually doing a pretty good job. And that sort of sets me apart from most of my Republican colleagues.” He noted progress on bipartisan agreements between people like himself and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., on the right and Khan and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., on the left. Speaking separately, Khan credited Vance for his bipartisan legislation with Warren pushing banking reforms. Policymakers' goal should be establishing a system where the best ideas can succeed through open and fair markets, said Khan. She said startups and company founders often tell her about dominant companies blocking ideas from coming to the market or squeezing out competition when startups begin succeeding. The antitrust case against Microsoft in the 1990s helped open the door for startups like Google, and today’s policies must allow the next wave of innovation, she said.