Chris Mufarrige, director of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) consumer protection bureau, is tasked with protecting Americans from predatory companies amid significant challenges. Since assuming his role in early 2025, Mufarrige has expanded oversight of finance companies and reached settlements with Amazon, StubHub, Instacart, Shutterstock, and others over deceptive subscriptions and pricing.

An April 2026 FTC report highlighted the role of Meta’s platforms—Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram—in scams that cost consumers $2.5 billion in 2025. Mufarrige emphasized, “The Facebooks of the world, they have a responsibility here to deal with … clearcut fraud on their platforms.”

However, the FTC faces political and operational hurdles. The commission’s five-member panel has been reduced to two Republican members after former President Donald Trump fired two Democrats in 2025, a move upheld by the Supreme Court. Additionally, the agency has cut 287 employees since the end of 2024. The Trump administration’s efforts to defund the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, grant carve-outs to Trump-friendly companies, pardon white-collar criminals, and dismiss FTC commissioners have raised doubts about the agency’s effectiveness.

Mufarrige told the Guardian that skeptics should review the agency’s record and anticipate more robust consumer-friendly actions in the summer of 2026.

The FTC was established by the Federal Trade Commission Act, signed into law by Woodrow Wilson in 1914, with dual mandates to combat unfair competition and deceptive practices affecting commerce.

Sources