U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who as Connecticut’s attorney general for two decades made consumer protection a top priority, has a new and vastly bigger perch where he can oversee business practices.

As Democrats take narrow control of the U.S. Senate, Blumenthal will head the Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Trade and Consumer Protection.

“The exciting part of this new responsibility is in fact the breadth of subjects that we can go after,” he said Friday in a telephone interview.

The number of consumer issues Blumenthal has taken up is significant. A short list includes greater protections in self-driving cars, criticism of the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint, demands for stiff penalties against Volkswagen over diesel engine exhaust emissions, opposition to higher electric rates and demands for greater regulation of bottled water.

As chairman of the subcommittee, Blumenthal will have oversight over sprawling executive branch agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission with a mission of protecting consumers and advancing competition.

Sorting through the array of issues, Blumenthal said the judgment by lawmakers “will have to be how consumers are most harmed and how shining a light on those harms will protect them.” Legislative solutions could be to give new enforcement tools to the FTC and Department of Justice, he said.

A major issue is how to rein in mergers that result in blockbuster companies that could stifle competition. Legislation introduced by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and backed by Blumenthal would boost antitrust enforcement, strengthen rules against anticompetitive mergers and update a 107-year-old federal law to prohibit actions that disadvantage competitors or limit the opportunity to compete.

It could lead to legislation reining in Big Tech firms such as Google and Facebook, Blumenthal said. “Colleagues on both sides of the aisle think they’ve gotten too big,” he said.

Garrett Johnson, an assistant professor at the Questrom School of Business at Boston University, said it’s not clear how antitrust actions by the federal government would resolve problems about digital technology and its potential for abuse.

“I think there’s definitely an appetite to do something,” said Johnson, who focuses on digital marketing and measuring the effectiveness of advertising and researching privacy issues. “It’s unclear to me they agree on what to do.”

Regarding privacy issues, states are already adopting their own legislation, he said.

Blumenthal has faced some criticism on the campaign trail over consumer policies seen as hostile to business, though few barbs have been lobbed at him between his election races. Republican Linda McMahon said in their 2010 Senate race he was heavy-handed toward business, and Blumenthal responded by saying his pro-consumer stance boosts competition among businesses.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce gave the two-term senator a 63% legislative score in 2019, reflecting how consistently he voted with its position on legislation identified as important to the business community.

Being pro-consumer also may be a winning political issue because consumers are voters.

“These issues are kitchen table,” Blumenthal said.

Stephen Singer can be reached at ssinger@courant.com.