FTC Chair Lina Khan defends rules allowing 'zombie votes' by departing commissioners

Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan is defending rules allowing so-called zombie votes, by which votes from FTC commissioners who leave the agency can count towards the commission’s current proceedings, even after said commissioners depart. The practice came to light recently after reporting by Politico revealed that as many as 20 votes from former Democratic Commissioner Rohit Chopra remained active, even after he left to become head of Biden’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Chopra’s votes could be key to the FTC being able to push through Democrats’ progressive priorities at a time when Democratic and Republican members would otherwise be stalemated 2-2 on votes. Republicans have criticized the practice as unfair political maneuvering, but Khan argues that under longstanding FTC rules, it’s fair game. Khan responded to one of her fiercest critics, Sen Mike Lee (R-UT), the top Republican on Senate Judiciary’s antitrust panel, with a history lesson about a 1984 policy under which “the votes of a departing Commissioner always count, except in instances where they are displaced by the votes of his or her successor.” Khan didn't confirm how many votes Chopra made before he left but said five of them have become public and two more will soon. Of those seven, five were unanimous. Chopra's was the deciding vote in only two cases: a merger policy statement issued on October 25 and the FTC's fiscal 2021 annual financial report issued on November 15.