Rule Garza Howley Hosts FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson and Directors Guarnera and Mufarrige

On September 22, 2026, Rule Garza Howley LLP hosted discussions with Andrew Ferguson, the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, Chris Mufarrige, the FTC’s Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, and Dan Guarnera, the FTC’s Director of the Bureau of Competition.

Chairman Ferguson discussed numerous topics, including:

• Settlements: “We are open to settlements” and those settlements can result in the FTC “saving money to go litigate against someone else.” “Work with me so we can fix it together.”
• Lobbying in antitrust: “I do not think hiring a lobbyist is . . . remotely necessary to do merger work at either agency.”
• Regarding state AG actions in antitrust: The states have “an important role to play,” though the Chairman explained that he is sensitive to the risk that the states will act in a nakedly partisan way.
• AI companies and the FTC: The Chairman explained that the FTC has had and is going to continue to have a very important role preventing AI firms from violating the antitrust and consumer protection laws.
• Trump v. Slaughter: The Chairman explained that though the Supreme Court decision made it clear that the president’s agenda will be carried out, this will not be a departure from prior practice where the president’s agenda was still carried out by the FTC.
• Part 3 vs. Federal Court: The Chairman expressed concern about using Part 3 to adjudicate merger enforcement actions. In particular, he said that “Part 3 makes us the judge in our own case,” which “doesn’t make sense.” But he cautioned that if companies make it procedurally difficult more to proceed only in federal court, the Commission may still use a more extended Part 3 proceeding: “If you all want to make my life more difficult by making it hard to go only in Article III, that’s fine. I can make your life more difficult by doing it in Part 3 even after the Article III part is done.”

Dan Guarnera covered topics including how to approach the agencies effectively on arguments as the target of an investigation. He explained that parties should focus on their best arguments rather than every possible argument they can make. And when making enforcement decisions, Director Guarnera explained that whether the FTC can win is top of mind.

Chris Mufarrige discussed the lower burden in many consumer protection cases as compared to antitrust cases, noting that “companies make the mistake of forgetting” the importance of the lower burden in their advocacy. He also explained that the Bureau of Consumer Protection has focused on price transparency, which is something that will continue to be a focus.

The discussions were the first event in the firm’s Conversation Series, which feature government enforcers and antitrust thought leaders. Managing Partner Dan Howley introduced the event; Chair Rick Rule led the discussion with Chairman Ferguson; Counsel Nate Harris led the discussion with Directors Guarnera and Mufarrige.

Please contact the firm for additional information on the topics discussed at the event or the Conversation Series.