Federal Trade Commission

Federal Trade Commission

Seal of the Federal Trade Commission
Flag of the Federal Trade Commission
Agency overview
Formed	September 26, 1914; 109 years ago (1914-09-26)
Preceding agency	Bureau of Corporations
Jurisdiction	Federal government of the United States
Headquarters	Federal Trade Commission Building Washington, DC
Employees	1,123 (FY 2021)[1]
Annual budget	$311 million (FY 2019)[2]
Agency executive	Lina Khan, Chairperson
Website	https://www.ftc.gov/
Footnotes
[3][4]

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction over federal civil antitrust law enforcement with the Department of Justice Antitrust Division. The agency is headquartered in the Federal Trade Commission Building in Washington, DC.

The FTC was established in 1914 with the passage of the Federal Trade Commission Act, signed in response to the 19th-century monopolistic trust crisis. Since its inception, the FTC has enforced the provisions of the Clayton Act, a key antitrust statute, as well as the provisions of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 41 et seq. Over time, the FTC has been delegated with the enforcement of additional business regulation statutes and has promulgated a number of regulations (codified in Title 16 of the Code of Federal Regulations). The broad statutory authority granted to the FTC provides it with more surveillance and monitoring abilities than it actually uses.^[5]: 571

The FTC is composed of five commissioners, who each serve seven-year terms. Members of the commission are nominated by the President and subject to Senate confirmation, and no more than three FTC members can be of the same party. One member of the body serves as FTC Chair at the President's pleasure, with Commissioner Lina Khan having served as chair since June 2021.^[6]