Although many of the Trump administration is engaged in a full-court press to make Los Angeles burn, not all companies are taking part in a task within the wretched and unlawful endeavor.
Take the Federal Commerce Fee. Even in President Donald Trump’s most fevered creativeness, the company charged with defending companies from antitrust practices and defending shoppers from misleading promoting isn’t going to assist Immigration and Enforcement Officers crack skulls and terrorize cities.
However by no means worry: The FTC is protecting busy by defending Elon Musk’s enterprise pursuits and attacking trans folks.
Regardless of Musk’s swift and hilarious fall from grace, the FTC appears to nonetheless be doing him a strong. It’s possible not as a result of FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson has a smooth spot for Musk, however somewhat as a result of he doesn’t imagine in a good, stage taking part in area for companies. That type of pondering is for suckers like former Chair Lina Khan, who truly tried to implement antitrust legal guidelines.
The Federal Commerce Fee Constructing in Washington, D.C.
Underneath Khan, the FTC additionally banned most non-compete agreements as a result of stopping folks from switching jobs harms enterprise competitors. In the meantime, Ferguson issued a press release condemning the ban and lovingly detailing the lengthy historical past of companies forcing workers to remain in poisonous work environments.
As a part of the topsy-turvy Trump administration, the FTC goes to guard enterprise competitors by harassing promoting companies and commerce teams for failing to power their purchasers to promote on X—aka Musk’s Every thing App for Nazis and Eugenics Fanatics.
That’s the precise reverse of defending enterprise competitors. It appears much more like a particular carveout for a man who spent $250 million to place Trump in workplace. Final month, the FTC introduced it had opened an investigation into Media Issues, which seems to endorse the identical theories as Musk’s lawsuit in opposition to the corporate.
These theories? First, that in some way Media Issues gamed the system to power racist and anti-semitic posts subsequent to paid ads on X. Second, that if commerce organizations and advocacy teams mentioned not having their purchasers promote on X, that’s an unlawful boycott.
This absurdity wouldn’t be entertained for one minute by a functioning company, however we actually don’t have a kind of.
However that’s simply how Trump’s FTC is defending enterprise competitors, so how is it defending shoppers? By attacking trans folks, after all.
In July, the FTC is internet hosting a workshop referred to as Exploring Unfair or Misleading Commerce Practices in “Gender-Affirming Care” for Minors, which is able to deal with whether or not medical professionals are engaged in unfair or misleading commerce practices by failing to warn folks concerning the dangers of gender-affirming care or by making unsupported claims about the advantages of that look after minors.
In the actual world, the stance of all main medical organizations is that gender-affirming look after minors is sweet and protected. However since Trump issued an govt order reversing the federal government’s assist, the FTC has determined that it will possibly bootstrap that order backward in some way, alleging that previous statements of assist for gender-affirming look after minors had been subsequently misleading.
A gaggle protests a Kentucky invoice in opposition to gender-affirming care.
It’s not simply legally incoherent. It’s additionally proof of how the Trump administration has warped itself to do nothing besides deal with Trump’s each random proclamation as settled regulation.
The workshop guarantees a parade of unnamed “doctors, medical ethicists, whistleblowers, detransitioners, and parents of detransitioners.” However good luck listening to from these unbelievable but nameless consultants, as a result of “for the safety of participants,” in-person attendance is invitation solely.
Nothing says “we feel rock solid about our stance here” like ensuring nobody with precise details about gender-affirming look after minors will get within the door.
Underneath the Biden administration, the FTC labored to really shield shoppers somewhat than struggle right-wing tradition wars.
In 2024, the FTC issued a “click to cancel” regulation, requiring corporations to make it as straightforward to cancel subscriptions as it’s to enroll. In different phrases, for those who can join Netflix or Amazon or no matter digitally, you’ve got to have the ability to cancel it digitally, too.
Now, the FTC has delayed implementation of that rule as a result of “protecting consumers” means “letting companies make it hard to stop giving them money.”
It’s horrible to observe the FTC abandon its core missions in favor of no matter that is. However we don’t need to faux it’s acceptable.
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