By Jody Godoy
(Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is looking to trim its headcount by around 10%, its chairman told Congress on Thursday, insisting the agency will be able to continue antitrust and consumer protection work with what would be its smallest staff in 10 years.
The FTC is in the midst of an “unprecedented time,” pursuing antimonopoly cases against companies including Meta Platforms, Amazon and Deere & Co, while going after the largest pharmacy benefit managers over insulin pricing, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson told a U.S. House of Representatives panel.
But he said shrinking the agency further would not hamper that work.
“In terms of accomplishing our mission, we can accomplish the mission with 1,100 employees. I have no doubt about it. Because our people are really, really good, and we have shifted our priority, especially away from rulemaking,” Ferguson said.
So far this year, 94 employees have departed the agency, leaving 1,221 full-time employees, Ferguson said. While it laid off a handful of probationary employees, the agency is offering buyouts and has not yet enacted reductions in force.
Ferguson did not disclose the details of the FTC’s budget request, but said around 1,100 was a healthy staffing level given the agency’s current funding. Ferguson’s predecessor, Lina Khan, had hired more staff than the agency could afford, he said.
The agency has also brought down its contract spending by more than $6 million this year, Ferguson said. Two workers from the Department of Government Efficiency have helped identify contracts to be cut or scaled back, he added.
The agency is eyeing ways to reduce its spending on outside data storage providers, and curb the bills from expert trial witnesses that can run as high as $30 million for one case.
Ferguson responded to concerns that DOGE, the Elon Musk-led initiative to downsize the government, could gain access to confidential business information, including on Musk’s competitors, that the FTC uses to review mergers.
He said DOGE workers are subject to the same restrictions as all other FTC employees and cannot access information without appropriate justification.
(Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by Chris Reese)
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