Budget: Huge Jump for DOJ Antitrust, No Big Changes for FCC or FTC

The White House rolled out its fiscal year 2021 funding requests, including a proposed 71 percent bump in congressional spending on the Justice Department’s antitrust division — an increase that is another indicator that the agency is serious about its pending investigations into tech giants like Google and Facebook. (It would also allow the agency to hire 87 additional staffers.) In contrast, the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission aren’t requesting any big changes in their funding or staffing. The FCC is seeking $343 million, up 1.2 percent from its 2020 funding level, while the FTC is asking for a little over $330 million, which is about $800,000 less than its current funding. The FCC noted it’s on track to move to its new Washington headquarters in June, while FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter objected to the request for her agency, saying in a statement that it “does not accurately reflect the funding the FTC needs to protect consumers and promote competition.”