On Tuesday, February 25, 2025, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will hold a hearing to confirm the nomination of Mark Meador to serve as a Federal Trade Commissioner. Meador previously served in the Department of Justice Antitrust Division and the FTC’s Health Care Division. Most recently, he was a founding partner at Kressin Meador Powers LLC, where he was an antitrust litigator. If confirmed, Mr. Meador will be the third Republican Commissioner (along with Commissioners Andrew Ferguson and Melissa Holyoak) and will complete the full roster of five Commissioners. Meador’s confirmation would also end the deadlock that currently plagues the Commission and begin a Republican majority era at the FTC.
On January 23, 2025, the FTC approved a motion to give Chairman Ferguson the authority to comply with President Trump’s executive orders ending Diversity Equity and Inclusion initiatives across the federal government. Following the anticipated confirmation of Mr. Meador, we can also expect the FTC to slow the rulemaking pace of the prior administration, increase scrutiny of Big Tech (including aggressive antitrust enforcement of the industry’s largest players), and reduce regulation of Artificial Intelligence technologies. Maybe we'll even see updates to the Green Guides.
To learn more about the consumer protection priorities of the FTC under the second Trump administration, please join me and my Katten colleagues at the ANA Advertising Law 1-Day Conference on March 26, 2025 in Chicago (register here).
