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Recently, two individuals associated with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, were observed at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). According to sources, Gavin Kliger and Emily Bryant were seen within the FTC building and are now documented in the agency’s internal directory, listed under the Office of the Chairman.
An FTC spokesperson, Joe Simonson, confirmed that the purpose of DOGE’s visit is to “root out waste, fraud and abuse,” as reported by Axios.
As DOGE operates under the FTC’s umbrella, the specific focus areas for this collaboration remain uncertain. The FTC itself is a relatively small agency, comprising fewer than 1,200 staff members dedicated to consumer protection and antitrust enforcement. Earlier this year, the FTC also reduced its number of probationary employees.
FTC chair Andrew Ferguson has indicated a vision for regulatory bodies to function under presidential oversight, deviating from their traditionally independent status.
The FTC possesses access to significant confidential information concerning various businesses under investigation, which includes critical material relevant to an impending antitrust lawsuit against Meta. According to sources, much of the data pertaining to FTC cases is stored on-site, while documents gathered through the discovery process are managed through a system called Relativity.
Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, one of the Democratic commissioners at the FTC, recently underscored the sensitive nature of the commercial data in the agency’s possession. During an American Bar Association panel discussion, she emphasized that unauthorized access to this data by other market participants would be alarmingly illegal and concerning.
The FTC’s oversight extends to Musk’s ventures, with the platform X being subject to a longstanding consent decree due to previous issues surrounding user data management before Musk’s acquisition of the platform. Recently, Musk has expressed his support for redistributing the FTC’s antitrust enforcement capabilities to the Department of Justice, which collaborates with the FTC on selecting which antitrust matters to pursue.
Source
www.theverge.com