Lawmakers press FTC chair for federal price gouging ban

A group comprised predominantly of Democrats pressed Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan this week for more information on how a federal price gouging ban could help “hold bad actors accountable” in the event of major disasters such as Hurricane Helene.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) led 11 lawmakers in signing on to the letter, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.), Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.).

In the letter, lawmakers cited efforts taken in dozens of states to tackle price gouging, including legislation and hotlines, while pointing to recent allegations of price gouging in the Carolinas in the aftermath of Helene.

“In the two weeks since the hurricane made landfall, Florida and North Carolina activated state-specific price gouging hotlines, which allow consumers to report instances of suspected price gouging,” they wrote.

“Consumers are taking action to hold price gougers accountable: the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office has received nearly 200 complaints of price gouging in Helene’s aftermath, and South Carolina has received over 300 complaints,” the letter reads.

The lawmakers said a federal price gouging law carried out by the FTC would “strengthen and standardize state-level efforts to combat price gouging.”

“Price gouging laws differ across states with regard to the time period when the restriction goes into effect and the time periods for which price gougers can be investigated and held accountable,” they wrote, arguing that a federal price gouging law “would provide the same consumer protections to all consumers, no matter where they live.”

They also said limits on jurisdiction at the state level could allow “larger distributors or companies further up the supply chain to escape liability,” while arguing a federal law could be key to confronting price gouging “by a supplier higher up in the supply chain or by a business operating in multiple states.”

“The current regulatory system forces state attorneys general to focus on smaller retailers operating within their state, who often are themselves victims of price gouging from larger suppliers,” they said, adding a federal ban could allow the FTC “to help state attorneys general target large, multi-state entities that may be engaged in price gouging.”

In the letter, lawmakers posed a series of questions for the FTC to answer by Oct. 23, including queries about the authorities the agency has to combat price gouging and the impact of a federal ban on state efforts.

The letter also copied Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg after his recent warning about taking “allegations of airline price-gouging seriously.”

“We are keeping a close eye on flights in and out of areas affected by Hurricane Milton to make sure airlines are not charging excessively increasing fares,” he wrote on the social platform X earlier this week.

The calls come weeks after Vice President Harris pushed for a federal ban on “price gouging on food and groceries” on the campaign trail. 

However, the idea has gotten pushback from critics such as former President Trump, who panned the pitch as “socialist price controls,” though some experts have said such a proposal could help target big players that have the resources to evade crackdowns at the state level.