US FTC offers employees financial incentives to quit

By Jody Godoy

(Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Trade Commission offered employees financial incentives on Friday to leave the agency, though some may be turned down if their departure would hurt the agency’s work enforcing consumer protection and antitrust laws, according to an internal email seen by Reuters.

FTC staff allowed to take the deal would be paid through September 30 and not have to work after May 23. The package is similar to the "fork in the road" that the Trump administration offered 2 million federal employees in January.

This time, some FTC staff may be barred from taking the deal if their departure "would have a material adverse impact on the agency’s mission, ongoing work, or mission-critical functions or needs," according to the email.

The limitations on the FTC resignation program suggest Trump is not eager to blunt one of his key tools in a crackdown on Big Tech.

The FTC has so far not seen the mass firings and resignations that some other enforcement agencies have undergone, though two of its Democratic commissioners were fired in a move they say violated long-settled law.

Separate from the resignation deal, the FTC is offering early retirement, and buyouts to employees who are eligible for retirement.

A spokesperson for the FTC declined to comment on Friday.

The agency is currently in the middle of a high-stakes antitrust trial against Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) brought during Trump’s first term. In September, it is slated to go to trial against Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) in a consumer protection case.

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One FTC attorney said in March that cost-cutting measures threatened to delay the trial, but reversed his statement hours later.

The FTC under Chairman Andrew Ferguson has launched a labor market task force and called for social media users to report their experiences with being banned. In recent executive orders, Trump tapped the agency to take on ticket scalping and identify areas where deregulation would make markets more competitive.

The agency also recently sued Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER), claiming it misleads users about its Uber One subscription service.

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