Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chairwoman Lina Khan is one of the few appointees in the Biden government to draw praise from across the political aisle. Khan’s aggressive approach to anti-trust action and her ongoing battle for consumer privacy against data brokers has earned her praise from a handful of House and Senate Republicans.
“I hope her work continues in the Trump administration,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) recently told NOTUS in an interview. He added: “Her work against data brokers has been very important. Her work against some of the consolidated market power that hurts consumers has really inspired me.”
The populist wing of the Republican Party in Congress — some of former President Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters — sees an ally in Khan. As chairwoman of the FTC, Khan has been most active in fighting against consolidation of corporate power — especially in the technology industry. It is this battle against ‘BigTech’ that has earned Khan most of her accolades from the political right.
“I probably am one of the few Republicans who thinks Lina Khan is doing a good job,” said Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) before continuing: “I think she has some justifiable concerns about corporate concentration.”
Another Senate ally of former President Donald Trump, Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN), has even found common ground with the arch-progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on anti-trust efforts — agreeing with the former Democrat presidential candidate that free markets need a degree of policing to truly be competitive.
“She’s willing to take on some of those industries that look like nobody can take them on and make them more competitive,” Braun said of Khan’s leadership at the FTC, warning critics of the chairwoman: “If you don’t make the effort, you’re promoting oligopolies and monopolies.”
Khan’s aggressive pursuit of anti-trust action against corporate consolidation in tech and other industries has drawn the ire of neo-liberal and globalist organizations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page, the Jeff Yass-funded Club for Growth, and the network groups funded by Charles Koch. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has also been a vocal critic of Khan’s FTC tenure. According to Cruz, Khan is “extreme and radical.” However, most of the Texas Republican’s criticism has been regarding her management style — rather than the substance of her policy and legal actions against Big Tech and other industries controlled by business cartels and monopolies.
“A lot of these people that go work in government positions that interface with big business, they want to create the virus for the sole reason of selling the antidote when they get out,” Gaetz said before concluding: “She’s not; she’s actually doing good work.”