Chamber of Commerce’s fight with FTC heats up

The Federal Trade Commission has hit back against the US Chamber of Commerce, denying 35 of the 37 public records requests filed by the lobbying group about the FTC’s voting rules, policy statements and plans to fine businesses who break the law. The Chamber had come out swinging before Thanksgiving, accusing the agency of “going rogue” with its actions. The FTC argued in its previously unreported denial that the volume of requests creates an “unreasonable hardship for the agency to process.” For two other requests — including on the FTC voting procedures — the agency said documents are already public. The Chamber is still deciding how to respond to the FTC’s denial. “The agency’s denial of our [requests]in less than 48 hours calls into question whether the FTC ever actually reviewed each submission,” said spokesperson Tim Doyle. Under the law, the group has 90 days to either file an appeal with the agency or sue. (The National Archives also has a program to help mediate disputes related to the requests.) In the meantime, the Chamber submitted three new records requests seeking the FTC’s full internal procedures manual and records related to former FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra’s votes.

A group of senators, led by Sen Jerry Moran (R-KS), are proposing to ban votes by departed FTC commissioners. The bill would be retroactive to the beginning of 2021, nullifying any remaining Chopra votes. More than two dozen leaders of conservative-leaning groups wrote to lawmakers and the FTC’s inspector general, calling for “an investigation into both this practice and the Commission’s lack of transparency.”