President Obama to Nominate Maureen K. Ohlhausen to the Federal Trade Commission

By Kurt R. Karst –

On July 19th, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Maureen K. Ohlhausen as a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”).  Ms. Ohlhausen is currently a partner at Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP, where she specializes in privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity.  Ms. Ohlhausen previously worked at the FTC from 1997 to 2008.  From 2004 to 2008, she served as Director of the Office of Policy Planning, where she supervised the development of reports, amicus briefs, and advocacy filings on competition and consumer protection topics, principally focusing on e-commerce, advertising, and technology issues.  Additional background information is available here.

If confirmed by the Senate, Ms. Ohlhausen would serve a 7-year term on the 5-member board, which currently includes Commissioners Jon Leibowitz, J. Thomas Rosch, William E. Kovacic, Edith Ramirez, and  Julie Brill.  Ms. Ohlhausen would be replacing William E. Kovacic, whose term expires in September.