President Donald Trump intends to nominate antitrust attorney Joseph Simons as chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, the White House announced on Thursday.
Simons, who served as an FTC official under President George W. Bush, is currently a partner and co-chair of the antitrust group at law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.
If confirmed by the Senate, Simons would take over from Maureen Ohlhausen, who has been serving as Acting FTC Chairman since Trump's inauguration in January.
A report from Politico called Trump's choice of Simons a blow to Ohlhausen, noting she has served at the FTC since 2012 and has spent most of this year openly campaigning for the permanent chairman job.
The FTC has been operating short-handed this year, with Ohlhausen and Democrat Terrell McSweeny the only sitting members.
The White House said Trump also intends to nominate Noah Phillips and Rohit Chopra to fill the other two seats on the FTC's five-member commission.
Phillips currently serves as chief counsel for Republican Senator John Cornyn, R-Tex., while Rohit Chopra is a Senior Fellow at the Consumer Federation of America.
FTC Commissioners are appointed to a seven-year term, and no more than three Commissioners can be of the same political party.
The nominations come as the FTC is facing numerous significant issues, including an investigation of the massive data breach at Equifax (EFX).
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