Wall Street allies of Kamala Harris are reportedly stepping up pressure on the Democratic presidential candidate to fire top regulators if she wins the White House.
Deep-pocketed donors have repeatedly targeted progressive FTC Chair Lina Khan for allegedly disrupting deals in technology and other sectors of the economy on calls with Harris' staff and at fundraisers. A person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg:.
The effort to remove Khan has reportedly intensified in recent weeks since billionaire donors IAC Chairman Barry Diller and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman publicly called for Khan's removal in July. Hoffman said Khan was “They're waging war on American business.”
President Joe Biden nominated Khan, 35, to lead the agency in 2021. She is a favorite of progressive lawmakers such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren. He called her appointment “great news.” But many from Wall Street to Silicon Valley have complained about the lack of deals under her watch.
Still, big tech donors are likely to continue pouring money into Harris' campaign, Bloomberg quoted sources as saying.
The Harris campaign has not provided clear answers to donors about its opinion of the vice president, Khan, and campaign backers are not refraining from donating because of him, the people said.
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler is disliked by both Democratic and Republican donors, sources told Bloomberg.
Gensler, whose term ends in 2026, has been a vocal advocate of increased regulation of the industry.
“Shark Tank” investor Mark Cuban is backing Harris. He told CNBC this week The SEC “needs to change”
Cuban said he had asked Harris' team to “put my name on the SEC.”
Former President Donald Trump said at the 2024 Bitcoin Conference that he would fire Gensler if the Republican candidate wins in November.
The FTC declined to comment, and the SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jill Fish, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, told Bloomberg that both Khan and Gensler have led government agencies with “fairly aggressive” policies.
“They weren't going to play it safe,” Fish said. “They weren't going to compromise.”
The FTC and SEC have historically operated outside the political realm, but that boundary appears to be fading.
“Right now it's not about what's the smartest thing to do from a market or industry perspective, it's about what's important politically and what will please our political leaders. This is a very difficult road to travel,” Fish said.
Under Khan, the FTC has fought to block Microsoft's acquisition of video game company Activision Blizzard Inc. and a $25 billion grocery store merger between Kroger and Albertsons, which analysts previously told The Washington Post were looking increasingly unlikely.
Much of the complaint against Gensler stems from the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) efforts to crack down on the cryptocurrency industry, which Gensler claims is in flagrant violation of securities laws.
