CCAGW Joins Coalition Requesting Investigation into FTC "Zombie" Votes
Letters to Officials
December 2, 2021
Andrew Katsaros
Inspector General, Federal Trade Commisssion
The Honorable Maria Cantwell
Chair, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
The Honorable Roger Wicker
Ranking Member, Senate Commitee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
The Honorable Gary C. Peters
Chair, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
The Honorable Rob Portman
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
The Honorable Carolyn B. Maloney
Chair, House Committee on Oversight and Reform
The Honorable Frank Pallone
Chair, House Committee on Energy and Commerce
The Honorable Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Ranking Member, House Committee on Energy and Commerce
The Honorable James Comer
Ranking Member, House Committee on Oversight and Reform
RE: Request for investigation of the Federal Trade Commission's practice of counting "zombie votes"
Dear Inspector General Katsaros; Senators Cantwell, Peters, Wicker and Portman; and Representatives Pallone, Rodgers, Maloney, and Comer,
We, the undersigned, write to you regarding the Federal Trade Commission’s use of votes cast by departed-Commissioner Rohit Chopra by e-mail from October 1, 2021 to October 8, 2021. We request an investigation into both this practice and the Commission’s lack of transparency.
Nearly one month ago, Politico reported that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held on to “as many as 20 votes that former Democratic Commissioner Rohit Chopra cast by email on Oct. 8—his last day at the agency—that remain active even after his departure.” The FTC claims that formerCommissioner Chopra’s votes continued to be valid two months after Chopra’s departure from the FTC following his Sept. 30, 2021 confirmation by the U.S. Senate to become Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
To date, the entirety of the votes, the underlying proposals, and the legal basis from which the FTC apparently derives this authority—beyond compliance with the FTC’s previously unknown internal voting rules—remain unclear and undisclosed to the public.
Using the votes of Commissioners who have departed from their roles at the FTC and concealing it from the public raises serious concerns regarding transparency and accountability. We therefore seek an investigation to determine the following: 1.) the legal basis for this practice, beyond compliance with internal voting rules; 2.) whether the practice has previously been used, when it was used, and, specifically, if it has been used to break ties; and 3.) information relating to each of the underlying proposals, votes, and relevant motions as well as the FTC's rationale for concealing these specific matters from public disclosure. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Ashley Baker
Director of Public Policy, The Committee for Justice
Maureen Blum
President, Strategic Coalitions & Initiatives
Brandon Arnold
Executive Vice President, National Taxpayers Union
James Edwards
Executive Director, Conservatives for Property Rights
Saulius "Saul" Anuzis
President, 60 Plus Association
Theordore A. Gebhard
Former Senior FTC Attorney, Office of Policy & Evaluation
Robert H. Bork, Jr.
President, The Bork Foundation
Tom Hebert
Executive Director, Open Competition Center
Ralph Benko
Chairman, The Capitalist League
Curt Levey
President, The Committee for Justice
Garrett Bess
Vice President, Heritage Action
James L. Martin
Founder/Chairman, 60 Plus Association
Adam Brandon
President, FreedomWorks
Katie McAuliffe
Executive Director, Digital Liberty
Iain Murray
Vice President and Senior Fellow, Competitive Enterprise Institute
Yael Ossowski
Deputy Director, Consumer Choice Center
Richard Manning
President, Americans for Limited Government
Krisztina Pusok
Director, American Consumer Institute
Dough McCullough
Director, Lone Star Policy Institute
Timothy Sandefur
Vice President for Litigation, Goldwater Institute
Jessica Melugin
Director, Center for Technology and Innovation; Competitive Enterprise Institute
Tom Schatz
President, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
Seton Motley
President, Less Government
Dan Schneider
Executive Vice President, The American Conservative Union
Grover Norquist
President, Americans for Tax Reform
David Williams
President, Taxpayer Protection Alliance