Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from producer Raymond Rapada Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Eli | Email Lauren Drama is brewing around the Federal Trade Commission. And President JOE BIDEN’s anti-monopoly push may be tripped up because of it. The agency has been a key tool in the administration’s crusade to rein in Big Tech. But the president’s pick to fill a vacancy on the commission is facing opposition from all directions. Conservatives and liberal groups alike have criticized Utah Solicitor General MELISSA HOLYOAK for what they see as her past alliance with Big Tech citing, for one, her objections to class-action settlements with Google and other corporations. In comparison, Biden’s other nominee to fill the departure of two GOP members — Virginia Solicitor General ANDREW FERGUSON, a former chief counsel to MITCH MCCONNELL — has gone largely unscathed. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee has scheduled a vote on Wednesday on Holyoak, Ferguson and REBECCA KELLY SLAUGHTER, a Democratic commissioner who was renominated in January. The concerns around Holyoak may ultimately not be enough to derail her confirmation, but they point to a rocky road ahead for Biden’s agenda at the FTC. Cracking down on monopoly power is a central component of Biden’s economic sales pitch, and the FTC is at the center of that effort. There is a growing consensus that corporate consolidation over the last several decades has hurt the public. But there is also disagreement over just how aggressively current FTC chair, LINA KHAN, has tackled the matter. NOAH PHILLIPS and CHRISTINE WILSON, the previous two GOP commissioners, resigned early over disagreements with Khan. Wilson in particular criticized Khan’s leadership. While the minority commissioners have little ability to block Khan, having bipartisan agreement on major decisions is important for the agency’s credibility as it faces GOP attacks from TED CRUZ, JIM JORDAN and others. The White House, for its part, indicated in a statement that this would be an issue for Republicans to solve, since these were their nominees. “President Biden nominated several individuals to serve as Republican members of boards and commissions that are required, by statute or longstanding practice, to include bipartisan membership,” said a White House official. “It’s standard for Republican leadership to put nominees forward for these boards and commissions, along with President Biden’s own nominees.” An FTC spokesperson declined to comment. Khan, after the nominations of Holyoak and Ferguson were announced, said she looked forward to working with the pair. So far, the defense of Holyoak has been relatively muted. A Senate Republican aide familiar with the confirmation process disputed the characterization of Holyoak’s work and pointed to her involvement in antitrust lawsuits against Google and Meta. In the separate Google case referenced by activists, which involved allegations of privacy violations, Holyoak objected to the settlement so that the plaintiffs would be paid, the person said. And, indeed, Holyoak has by no means been a completely reliable vote for the tech sector. Her office is leading a major antitrust case brought by dozens of states alleging Google illegally monopolized the market for app stores on Android phones. But the problem she faces is that she’s being pinched at both ends of the ideological spectrum. Conservative groups including the Bull Moose Project and the New York Young Republicans club have also taken issue with Holyoak, citing her years of work for the tech-funded Competitive Enterprise Institute, which included rolling back consumer protections in a major telecom merger. And good government activists say she’s simply too beholden to corporations, noting her opposition to Environmental, Social and Governance priorities. An open records request from Insure Our Future US revealed documents demonstrating Holyoak was instrumental in organizing a group of 23 state attorneys general in a campaign to warn insurers against focusing on ESG principles. The AGs told insurance companies they were “concerned with the legality of your commitments to collaborate with other insurers and asset owners in order to advance an activist climate agenda.” “Sadly, Holyoak’s record speaks to someone willing to push or possibly break professional standards on behalf of corporations,” said Revolving Door Project founder JEFF HAUSER. “Her antipathy to ESG is of a piece with a whole litany of endeavors in which she displayed considerable vigor for protecting the rights of corporations to act in opposition to the broader common good.” MESSAGE US — Are you NORMAN ELLIS, White House legislative assistant? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here!
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