(Reuters) -The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday urged the Senate to delay consideration of President Joe Biden’s Federal Trade Commission nominee Alvaro Bedoya, accusing the current FTC leadership of undermining companies’ confidence in the agency.
The business lobbying group pointed to recent changes under FTC Chair Lina Khan, including action over consumer protection rule-making and a vote over a study of pharmacy benefit managers by the regulator.
“Current leadership of the FTC has engaged in a pattern of conduct that undermines the confidence of the business community in the agency’s willingness to fairly and transparently carry out enforcement and rulemakings within the boundaries of congressional authority,” the Chamber wrote in a letter to Senate leadership.
Representatives for the FTC could not be immediately reached for comment on the letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
Bedoya, a privacy expert and Democrat who teaches at Georgetown Law School, narrowly cleared a key Senate hurdle last month with Vice President Kamala Harris casting a tie-breaker vote, paving the way for a final confirmation vote.
But the Chamber urged the Senate to hold off, saying Bedoya’s nomination should be delayed until he clarifies “certain positions on critical issues regarding Commission management and authority” and noting he could cast tie-breaking votes.
Representatives for Schumer could not be immediately reached for comment on the letter. McConnell’s office had no immediate comment.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington; additional reporting by Shivam Patel in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, William Maclean)