Rosch, Lawmakers, Consumer Advocates Applaud News Ramirez to Lead FTC

"I am deeply honored at the opportunity to lead” the FTC, Ramirez said in a statement Thursday. Ramirez thanked Leibowitz “for his strong leadership” and said she looks “forward to working with my fellow commissioners and the able FTC staff to continue the agency’s proud history of promoting vigorous competition and protecting consumers.” According to the agency, Ramirez will begin serving as chairman on March 4.

Rosch told us he “couldn’t be more pleased” with the news of the appointment. Rosch left the agency and returned to Latham & Watkins to work on antitrust and competition issues earlier this year. Rosch described Ramirez as “thoughtful” during her time at the commission. “At no point in time did she ever make up her mind based on anything besides the merits” of the facts in front of her, he said. “It’s going to be very difficult to fill her spot.” Rosch said Ramirez has “encountered some obstacles” on her path to being appointed chairman, including that Leibowitz had been a law student with Commissioner Julie Brill. Brill had been thought of as a likely pick to lead the agency. Rosch said he thought Ramirez had “burned her bridges” with Leibowitz when she disagreed with the chairman over a settlement related to the investigation of Express Scripts’ proposed acquisition of Medco Health Solutions last year.

Ramirez will “certainly examine consumer issues in the privacy area with a fine tooth comb,” Rosch continued. “I think we probably disagreed most about privacy matters,” he said of himself and Ramirez’s time together at the commission. Rosch said the agency should make examining the practices of data brokers a priority in the coming months. “The commission ought to make it a priority” and “examine data brokers very assiduously,” he said. Rosch said he pushed the agency to look into data brokers’ practices during his tenure at the agency. “It’s one of the very few things in the privacy area that I applaud,” he said.

Ramirez has “deep knowledge and dedication to protecting consumers,” Congressional Privacy Caucus Co-Chairman Ed Markey, D-Mass., said in a statement (http://1.usa.gov/WukRrf). Selecting Ramirez to lead the agency ensures “that consumers will continue to have a strong voice and effective advocate,” he said. Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., called Ramirez “a highly-respected FTC Commissioner who will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to her new position as head of the FTC."

Under Ramirez, the FTC will “blaze new ground on privacy -- especially involving mobile devices, digital data brokers and Do Not Track,” said Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, in a statement. Chester told us that, through working on online privacy issues with her, he’s found Ramirez to be interested in the issues and “receptive to receive additional information so she can make the most informed decision.” Ramirez “identified consumer issues which need to be addressed that have been overlooked by others at the agency in the past,” including net neutrality, Chester said. Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn called Ramirez “a great choice for FTC Chair.” Ramirez “has been a strong voice for patent reform, and she understands that as technology becomes an ever greater part of our lives, competition and consumer protection policy must adapt,” Sohn said.