FTC Chairman Testifies Before House Appropriations Committee on Agency’s Budget

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson today appeared before the House Appropriations Committee’s Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee to discuss the agency’s Fiscal Year 2025 operations, Fiscal Year 2026 priorities and ongoing work to protect consumers and promote competition.

Testifying on behalf of the Commission, Chairman Ferguson emphasized the value the FTC provides to U.S. taxpayers. For example, in FY 2024, the agency returned more than $333 million to consumers, equivalent to nearly two-thirds of the agency’s annual budget.

The testimony highlighted the FTC’s commitment to using agency resources efficiently and meeting President Trump’s goal of reducing the size of the federal government. In recent months, the FTC has reduced the size of its workforce and cut other costs while still executing on the agency’s priorities – protecting the American people from scams, fraud and other unfair or deceptive practices as well as from harmful collusion and consolidation. The testimony also noted the importance of retaining adequate staffing to maintain the agency’s high level of performance.

As part of the agency’s mission to protect consumers, the FTC is working to prevent illegal telemarketing calls; fraud targeting older Americans and servicemembers; deceptive billing and cancellation practices; unlawful ticket practices; and unlawful data security and privacy practices. On the competition side, the FTC is focused on targeting the root causes of anticompetitive conduct and tackling the most significant harms across markets, particularly by dominant firms whose business practices affect many Americans.

The Commission vote to approve the testimony was 3-0.