EXCLUSIVE: In a letter sent Monday to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan, Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz announced he was opening an investigation into charges of mismanagement and mistreatment at the agency amid charges of a “toxic environment” from FTC employees.
“As a former Federal Trade Commission (‘FTC’) Director of the Office of Policy Planning, I am troubled by recent reports regarding FTC employees’ sinking morale and deepening lack of confidence in FTC leadership,” Cruz wrote in the letter obtained by Fox News Digital. “Despite your promises to address the situation, the problem appears to be worsening. I therefore write to inform you and FTC employees that the minority staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (‘Committee’) is opening an investigation into allegations of mismanagement of the agency and mistreatment of staffers.”
Cruz, the ranking Republican on the committee, cited a 2022 Office of Personnel Management Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey released in January 2023, wherein less than half of FTC employees agreed leadership maintained “high standards of honesty and integrity,” calling the data “disheartening.” Likewise, only 44% of FTC employees surveyed in 2022 said they had a “high level of respect” for senior leaders, the letter continued.
“Reporters who interviewed FTC staffers in June 2022 said that they ‘were notably emotional,’ and ‘admitted to a deep sadness and … to a kind of angry grief’ over recent changes at the FTC,” Cruz wrote.
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“Whatever the reason, the FTC cannot accomplish its mission to ‘protect the public from deceptive or unfair business practices and from unfair methods of competition’ with a demoralized and depleted staff,” Cruz wrote.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the ranking Republican on the committee, cited a 2022 Office of Personnel Management Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey released in January 2023, wherein less than half of FTC employees agreed leadership maintained “high standards of honesty and integrity,” calling the data “disheartening.” (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Cruz requested four different types of documents, all to be delivered no later than July 3, 2023, including “the number of individuals employed/full-time equivalents (‘FTE’) by the FTC from January 1, 2021 to present, broken down by month,” the number of employees who have left the FTC since Jan. 1, 2021, and “any actions that the Chairwoman’s Office has taken to improve staff morale.”