WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today released the following statement on the nomination of Alvaro M. Bedoya for Federal Trade Commissioner ahead of a Senate vote on a motion to discharge consideration of his nomination from committee and proceed to a floor vote:

“I urge my colleagues today to oppose the nomination of Mr. Bedoya. Mr. Bedoya’s record shows that he would drive the FTC, an agency with a tradition of bipartisanship, further down the hyper-partisan path it has taken under Chair Lina Khan.

“Mr. Bedoya has a long history of divisive social media statements, including calling for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be shut down; calling on local law enforcement agencies not to cooperate with ICE; accusing Cabinet-level departments of committing human rights abuses; and even demanding that several of our colleagues in the Senate resign 

“I want the FTC to return to its traditional standing as an agency that can be counted on to use its broad authority with a steady hand and a measured approach. I do not believe Mr. Bedoya is the right person for this role.  I do not believe someone with his temperament and lack of experience will be able to put the FTC back on track." 

The vote to discharge Mr. Bedoya comes after his nomination was deadlocked 14-14 in the Senate Commerce Committee earlier this month, now for the second time. Wicker and his Republican colleagues have opposed Bedoya’s confirmation because he lacks the temperament needed to restore bipartisanship to a traditionally cooperative agency and has limited experience with the competition and antitrust issues that are at the heart of the major policy debates at the FTC.