The FTC released the above chart showing the history of Commissioners, Chairwomen and Chairman of the FTC from 1915 through the present day. According to the chart, The Federal Trade Commission is composed of five Commissioners, and their terms extend for seven years. The Commissioners are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. At any given time, not more than three Commissioners may be members of the same political party. The President designates one Commissioner as Chairman, and the Chairman is given the responsibility for the administration of the Commission.
When the first five Commissioners were named, their terms were to expire on a staggered basis, on September 25, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920, and 1921, respectively. Their successors’ terms have been set to expire on September 25, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, and 1928; on September 25, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, and 1935; and following the same pattern thereafter. Thus, when a Commissioner resigns in mid-term, his or her successor does not receive a seven-year appointment but is instead appointed only until the end of the former Commissioner’s term. A Commissioner may serve beyond the expiration of his or her term until a new Commissioner is qualified.
Click here for a large PDF file of the chart.
Related Material of Possible Interest
The 5 Things Every Privacy Lawyer Needs to Know about the FTC: An Interview with Chris Hoofnagle
Daniel J. Solove and Woodrow Hartzog, The FTC and the New Common Law of Privacy, 114 Columbia Law Review 583 (2014)
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This post was authored by Professor Daniel J. Solove, who through TeachPrivacy develops computer-based privacy and data security training. He also posts at his blog at LinkedIn, which has more than 1 million followers.
Professor Solove is the organizer, along with Paul Schwartz, of the Privacy + Security Forum (Oct. 3-5, 2018 in Washington, DC), an annual event designed for seasoned professionals. This February, Professors Solove and Schwartz are launching a new event, the International Privacy+Security Forum (Feb. 26-27, 2018 In Washington, DC).
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