Tech critic Lina Khan gets bipartisan committee nod for FTC post

Lina Khan, the progressive tech critic President Joe Biden nominated to the Federal Trade Commission, won bipartisan approval from the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday, earning support from all but four GOP members.

The panel agreed to move forward with Khan’s nomination by voice vote. Sens. Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Mike Lee of Utah and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, all Republicans, asked to be recorded as opposed to putting Khan on the FTC.

Khan's support from Republicans — eight of the panel's 12 GOP members voted in her favor — may indicate growing bipartisan appetite for reining in major online platforms like Google, Facebook and Apple.

At her confirmation hearing last month, Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz praised Khan's accomplishments, saying he looked forward to working with her. And on Wednesday, Commerce’s top Republican, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, said he has concerns about “over-regulation,” but decided to support Khan’s nomination.

Khan "is focused on addressing one of the most pressing issues of the day: reining in the big social media platforms," Wicker said.

Consumer and anti-monopoly groups hailed the vote as a sign the Biden administration intends to hold tech companies accountable and reinvigorate antitrust enforcement.

"We believe Ms. Khan is willing and capable to hold Big Tech accountable, delivering results for farmers, consumers and nascent competitors who are being squeezed by overly concentrated markets," said U.S. PIRG, a federation of public interest groups focused on consumers.

A professor at Columbia Law School and former House Judiciary aide, Khan, 32, will be the youngest person ever to serve on the FTC if confirmed — a concern some Republicans have raised by saying she doesn't have the experience for the role.

Khan's supporters have pushed back, noting that several Republican FTC commissioners have been about the same age and level of experience when they joined the agency. David Clanton, a Republican who was nominated by then-President Gerald Ford, was also 32 when he took office. Josh Wright and current FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips, both Republicans, were in their 30s when they joined.

Khan was nominated to fill the post left open when then-President Donald Trump’s FTC chair, Republican Joseph Simons, stepped down in January. That will leave the agency split 2-2 once Democratic Commissioner Rohit Chopra is confirmed to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Chopra’s confirmation may take a while to finalize. The Senate Banking Committee split along partisan lines with a 12-12 vote in March to move Chopra’s nomination forward, a sign there'll likely be extra procedural steps involved before the full Senate can vote on his confirmation.