FTC Requests Delay of Amazon Prime Trial Due to 'Severe' DOGE Cuts

Post by: Bandan Preet

Photo: Reuters

Elon Musk and former President Donald Trump's push to cut federal jobs could affect the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) case against Amazon. The FTC is accusing Amazon of tricking people into signing up for its Prime service with misleading marketing. A trial was supposed to start in September, but an attorney from the FTC asked the judge on Wednesday to delay it by two months because of recent staff cuts, according to the Associated Press.

FTC lawyer Jonathan Cohen explained that the agency is facing serious challenges because of the job losses. “Our resource constraints are severe and unique to this moment,” Cohen said during an update. He mentioned that employees had been laid off or resigned, including people working on the case, making it hard to prepare. He also said that some of the staff who remained were still new to the job and hadn’t worked on the case for long. Cohen couldn’t promise things would improve even with a two-month delay, but he believed the worst might be over for now.

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This situation is raising concerns about how Musk’s budget cuts for the federal government could hurt the FTC’s ability to keep up with investigations, especially those against big tech companies like Amazon. In 2023, the FTC filed a lawsuit against Amazon, accusing it of tricking millions of Americans into signing up for Prime using sneaky website designs.

According to the former FTC Chair, Lina Khan, Amazon also made it harder for people to cancel their Prime memberships once they decided to stop paying for the service. Although Amazon denies these claims, the case could lead to refunds for customers who were affected.

The FTC has not responded directly to requests for comment, but its new chair, Andrew Ferguson, recently spoke to a group of business leaders. He reassured them that the FTC would continue to watch mergers and acquisitions closely. “The last thing we want are monopolies that slow innovation, and growth, and hurt American consumers,” he said.

The delays and staff cuts have raised questions about whether the FTC will be able to carry out its mission effectively, especially with large tech companies under increasing scrutiny.

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