Trump to nominate DC antitrust attorney to lead FTC: report

President Trump will nominate a Washington-based antitrust attorney as the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Reuters reported Wednesday that Trump plans to nominate Joseph Simon, a partner at the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, to head the regulatory agency. 

Simon served as the director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition from 2001 to 2003. During that time, the agency sued to halt alcoholic beverage makers Diageo PLC and Pernod Ricard from purchasing and dividing up Seagram’s, though the agency later reached a settlement on the deal.

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Also during Simon’s tenure, the FTC sued in 2003 to stop Nestle Holdings Inc. from buying Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream Inc. That suit was settled as well.

In addition to Simon’s nomination, Reuters reported, Trump is also expected to tap two others as FTC commissioners: Noah Phillips, a Republican who serves as chief counsel for Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Rohit Chopra, a Democrat who is currently a senior fellow at the Consumer Federation of America.

If confirmed by the Senate, the three nominees will join Maureen Ohlhausen, the current acting chairwoman, and Terrell McSweeny, a Democratic commissioner, at the FTC.