We, the undersigned, write to you regarding the Federal Trade Commission’s use of votes cast by departed-Commissioner Rohit Chopra by e-mail from October 1, 2021 to October 8, 2021. We request an investigation into both this practice and the Commission’s lack of transparency.
Nearly one month ago, Politico reported that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held on to “as many as 20 votes that former Democratic Commissioner Rohit Chopra cast by email on Oct. 8—his last day at the agency—that remain active even after his departure.”1 The FTC claims that former- Commissioner Chopra’s votes continued to be valid two months after Chopra’s departure from the FTC following his Sept. 30, 2021 confirmation by the U.S. Senate to become Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).2
To date, the entirety of the votes, the underlying proposals, and the legal basis from which the FTC apparently derives this authority—beyond compliance with the FTC’s previously unknown internal voting rules—remain unclear and undisclosed to the public.
Using the votes of Commissioners who have departed from their roles at the FTC and concealing it from the public raises serious concerns regarding transparency and accountability. We therefore seek an investigation to determine the following: 1.) the legal basis for this practice, beyond compliance with internal voting rules; 2.) whether the practice has previously been used, when it was used, and, specifically, if it has been used to break ties; and 3.) information relating to each of the underlying proposals, votes, and relevant motions as well as the FTC’s rationale for concealing these specific matters from public disclosure.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Ashley Baker
Director of Public Policy
The Committee for Justice
Maureen Blum
President
Strategic Coalitions & Initiatives
Brandon Arnold
Executive Vice President
National Taxpayers Union
James Edwards
Executive Director
Conservatives for Property Rights
Saulius “Saul” Anuzis
President
60 Plus Association
Theodore A. Gebhard
Former Senior FTC Attorney
Office of Policy & Evaluation
Robert H. Bork, Jr.
President
The Bork Foundation
Tom Hebert
Executive Director
Open Competition Center
Ralph Benko
Chairman
The Capitalist League
Curt Levey
President
The Committee for Justice
Garrett Bess
Vice President
Heritage Action
James L. Martin
Founder/Chairman
60 Plus Association
Adam Brandon
President
FreedomWorks
Katie McAuliffe
Executive Director
Digital Liberty
Iain Murray
Vice President and Senior Fellow
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Yaël Ossowski
Deputy Director
Consumer Choice Center
Richard Manning
President
Americans for Limited Government
Krisztina Pusok
Director
American Consumer Institute
Doug McCullough
Director
Lone Star Policy Institute
Timothy Sandefur
Vice President for Litigation
Goldwater Institute
Jessica Melugin
Director, Center for Technology and Innovation
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Tom Schatz
President
Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
Seton Motley
President
Less Government
Dan Schneider
Executive Vice President
The American Conservative Union
Grover Norquist
President
Americans for Tax Reform
David Williams
President
Taxpayers Protection Alliance
NOTE: Organizations listed for identification purposes only.
1 See Leah Nylan. “‘Zombies’ to the rescue: The arcane voting rule that could save Dems’ antitrust agenda.” Politico. (November 8, 2021), available at: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/08/voting-rule-democrats-antitrust-519767.
2 Id.
