Andrew Ferguson FTC Chair 12-18-24

Trump picks Andrew Ferguson to chair FTC 

"We must vigorously enforce the antitrust laws against any platforms found to be unlawfully limiting Americans' ability to exchange ideas freely and openly," Ferguson said in a recent statement.

Andrew N. Ferguson is an American lawyer serving since 2024 as a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission. He previously served as solicitor general of Virginia from 2022 to 2024.

Ferguson was born and grew up in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, Virginia. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia, where he graduated with highest distinction. He graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2012, where he was an articles editor of the Virginia Law Review.

After law school, Ferguson was a law clerk to judge Karen L. Henderson on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.  He practiced antitrust law at the law firms Covington & Burling and Bancroft PLLC, where he represented clients in private antitrust litigation and before the Federal Trade Commission and United States Department of Justice. 

From 2016 to 2017, he clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Ferguson then served as chief counsel for nominations and the constitution to then chairman of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Lindsey Graham, and as senior special counsel to then-judiciary committee chairman Chuck Grassley. He served as chief counsel to Mitch McConnell from 2019 until 2021. In that role, he was leader McConnell's chief legal advisor and judicial confirmation strategist.

In January 2022, Ferguson was selected by then attorney general of Virginia-elect Jason Miyares as the solicitor general. He succeeded Michelle Kallen the following month. He oversees the appellate litigation of Virginia and its agencies; represents Virginia before the Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme Court of Virginia and the federal courts of appeals; and defends Virginia's statutes and regulations from constitutional challenge.

 

A Republican, Ferguson was nominated by U.S. president Joe Biden in July 2023 to serve as a member of the Federal Trade Commission. Ferguson's nomination was reported favorably by the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on October 18, 2023, by voice vote. His nomination was confirmed by the full U.S. Senate by voice vote on March 7, 2024.

 

In June 2024, Ferguson, dissented when the Commission issued a final rule banning non-compete clauses in most employment contracts. In August 2024, U.S. District Judge Ada Brown issued a nationwide injunction prohibiting enforcement of the rule.

 

In September 2024, Ferguson dissented when the Commission conditioned approval of the $53 billion acquisition of Hess Corporation by Chevron Corporation upon the prohibition of John B. Hess from the company's board.^[

 

In October 2024, Ferguson argued in a partial dissent from a disqualification motion that the removal protections provided to the Commission's administrative law judges are unconstitutional.

 

 Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader