Musk-led cuts drive US consumer protection agency to ask for Amazon trial delay
US Federal Trade Commission asked a federal court in Seattle on Wednesday to delay a September trial in its case alleging Amazon misled consumers over its Prime subscription service, citing «severe resource shortfalls in terms of both money and personnel.»
Jonathan Cohen, an attorney for the FTC, told US District Judge John Chun during a hearing that the agency faces a «dire resource situation» amid cost cutting measures enacted under President Donald Trump's administration.
«We have lost employees in the agency, in our division and on our case team,» Cohen said. Cohen's statements are the first clear indication of how large-scale efforts led by Trump advisor and Tesla CEO Elon Musk to shrink government are affecting the FTC, which enforces consumer protection and antitrust laws.
Some employees on the case took a resignation offer sent out in January, and others have resigned for other reasons, or are scheduled to be on leave during the trial, with a hiring freeze in force, Cohen said. Trump signed an executive order in February forbidding government agencies to hire more than one employee for every four who leave.
The FTC accused Amazon in 2023 of using «deceptive user-interface designs known as 'dark patterns' to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically-renewing Prime subscriptions.»
Live Events
Cohen said the case over what he called the world's largest subscription program — which Amazon says has more than 200 million subscribers worldwide — involves claims worth at least $1 billion.
Amazon has