Wilson Sonsini | What’s Happening at the FTC During the Government Shutdown?

The federal government has been shut down for over a month. We previously reported on implications for the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) antitrust work here. What does the shutdown mean for the FTC’s consumer protection, privacy, safety, and AI work?

For one thing, the FTC may be getting a new commissioner. On October 29, 2025, Bloomberg reported that President Trump plans to nominate Ryan Baasch to serve as a commissioner on the FTC. Baasch is a Republican who has recently worked on issues related to technology and content moderation, which is a priority for President Trump’s FTC. If confirmed, Baasch will replace Republican Commissioner Melissa Holyoak, who is expected to be nominated as U.S. Attorney for Utah. The Commission will remain a 3-0 Republican majority, at least for the time being.

In addition, the FTC’s consumer protection work has largely come to a halt. The majority of employees have been furloughed, and pending investigations have been paused. Only a few FTC actions have been announced during the shutdown, and the Commission has been instructed to only work on cases that present a significant threat to human life or property. More detail on the state of the shutdown, the impact on the FTC, and what we expect to see when the shutdown ends is below.

Background on Ryan Baasch

Ryan Baasch has been serving as a member of President Trump’s National Economic Council (NEC) as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy since January 2025, where he focuses on technology policy. Prior to his current role, Baasch spent three years working in the Texas Attorney General’s Office and five years working in private practice. During his time in the Texas AG’s Office, Baasch launched a state data privacy enforcement team and played a key role in cases involving First Amendment and technology issues. He has also spoken publicly about social media, content moderation, and the First Amendment. When he was appointed to the NEC, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released a statement saying Baasch “served the people of Texas with distinction and delivered victory after victory in our fight against government overreach, predatory corporations, and Big Tech censorship.” Given his history, it is safe to assume that Baasch will be just as focused on technology companies and issues related to content moderation as FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson.

Makeup of the Commission if Baasch is Nominated and Confirmed

If Baasch is nominated and confirmed, the political makeup of the Commission will not change. There will still be three Republicans and no Democrats serving on the Commission. Whether Democratic Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, who President Trump fired back in March 2025, returns to the Commission is an open question.

In September 2025, the Supreme Court granted the Trump Administration’s application for a stay allowing the president’s removal of former Commissioner Slaughter to stand until the Court hears arguments in the case in December 2025. At issue in the case is the validity of the Supreme Court’s unanimous 1935 decision in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, 295 U.S. 602 (1935), which held that the president does not have “illimitable power of removal” over FTC commissioners. The FTC Act states that a commissioner may only be removed by the president “for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” 15 U.S.C. § 41. The Supreme Court directed the parties to brief and argue two questions in the case: 1) whether the statutory removal protections for members of the FTC violate the separation of powers and, if so, whether Humphrey’s Executor v. United States should be overruled; and 2) whether a federal court may prevent a person’s removal from public office, either through relief at equity or at law.

If former Commissioner Slaughter does not return to the Commission, it is unclear whether or when President Trump will nominate one or more Democrats to the Commission. Although the five-seat Commission cannot be made up of more than three members of the majority party, the president is not obligated to appoint commissioners to fill vacant roles. Since Trump has no incentive to put Democrats on the commission, it is very possible that the makeup of the commission will not change in the near future.

Impact of the Government Shutdown on the FTC’s Consumer Protection Work

As of November 7, 2025, the federal government remains shut down. The government shutdown, which began on October 1, 2025, has already had a significant impact on the FTC’s work. This year, under Chairman Ferguson’s leadership, FTC consumer protection enforcement has primarily focused on two issues: subscription enrollment and cancellation practices, and the privacy and safety of minors online. The Commission has also prioritized government and business impersonation, content moderation, and discrete issues posed by AI (e.g., deceptive claims and the impact of chatbots on kids).

Most of the FTC’s employees have been furloughed, with the exception of FTC Commissioners and employees working on certain cases. On the consumer protection side, that includes cases that are already in litigation where the FTC believes there is a reasonable likelihood that the safety of life or the protection of property (including the Commission’s ability to obtain monetary relief) would be significantly compromised absent immediate action, and the court has denied the FTC’s request for a suspension of dates for hearings and filings. It also includes cases where only a temporary restraining order (TRO) is in place, or where the FTC has sought, but the court has not yet granted, preliminary injunctive relief. Consistent with this approach, there have been some consumer protection actions announced during the shutdown. For example, the FTC obtained a TRO and filed a complaint against American Tax Services and its operators and affiliates for allegedly falsely impersonating government agencies, deceptively promising tax debt relief, sending threats to consumers about their debts, and pocketing tens of millions of consumers’ dollars.

Pending Bureau of Consumer Protection investigations have been suspended, except as necessary to prevent the statute of limitations from precluding the Commission’s ability to obtain monetary relief or as necessary to immediately seek a TRO to prevent ongoing substantial monetary harm to consumers. The expectation for these investigations is that the agency will extend companies’ deadlines for responding to the FTC’s requests by the number of days the government is shut down, unless there is a Commission order to the contrary.

Other notable work that the FTC is not pursuing during the shutdown includes hosting events; attending or conducting workshops, roundtables, hearings, or conferences; processing FOIA requests; conducting economic research; pursuing ongoing studies; issuing reports and guides; and making its views known through letters or comments to other agencies.

When the government shutdown ends, we expect to see continued enforcement in the subscription, minor privacy and safety, content moderation, and impersonation areas. We also expect that FTC staff will be eager to make progress on investigations that were paused during the shutdown, which may result in tight deadlines for companies subject to an existing investigation.

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati routinely represents companies in FTC investigations and enforcement actions and advises on FTC policy and enforcement priorities. For more information about the FTC’s consumer protection work, please contact Maneesha Mithal, Chris Olsen, Kelly Singleton, or another member of the firm’s Data, Privacy, and Cybersecurity practice.

Compliments of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati – a member of the EACCNY