February 7, 2025

The Honorable Ted Cruz

Re: Nomination Endorsement for Commissioner for the Federal Trade Commission

Dear Chairman Ted Cruz,

We are a group of conservative organizations and thought leaders who support expediently
confirming Mark Meador as a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). On
November 5, 2024, the American people gave our government an unprecedented and powerful
mandate when electing President Donald Trump. They gave him a clear mission: fix our broken
political system and take our country back from the elites, liberal mobs, and deep state directing
our country towards certain disaster.

President Trump is currently positioning himself to fulfill that mandate by assembling an

In that vein, we believe Mr. Meador is essential to realizing the President’s goal because of the
important role the FTC plays in regulating markets and consumer protection. Indeed, the FTC is
one of our premier competition regulators. It evaluates predatory pricing and can bring suit
against unlawful cartels that manipulate food prices, our rent, and distortions in the market
caused by investors’ DEI and ESG agendas. What’s more, the prevalence and undue influence of
these coordinated corporate coterie also requires its primary consumer protection agency to give
parents a fighting chance by fighting for them.

President Trump has signaled that he plans on continuing the fight in his second term. And for
good reason as these companies have the capacity to bend markets and even facts to their will.

Big Tech, in particular, has an incredible amount of influence over what see and do.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) stated that social media is "destroying lives" and "threatening
democracy itself." Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) aptly lamented that Big Tech “has
consumed too much power, and they are going to use it to censor [us].”

They are especially hurting our children. As you, Senator Cruz, rightly said that “[e]very parent
with a young child or a teenager either worries about, or knows first-hand, the real harms and
dangers of addicted and anxiety-inducing social media.”

But Big Tech is only part of the issue as there are other corporations working to exert influence
in the background. Index funds, like BlackRock or Vanguard, have been linked to using their
influence over companies to promote ESG movements,1 advance DEI,2 and may even be behind
debanking efforts against conservatives.3 Without strong leadership at the FTC, these issues will
only exacerbate.

Worse, large pharmaceutical companies have leveraged deceptive advertising to push harmful
puberty blockers on children. Big Pharma consistently and blatantly misrepresents the permanent
effects these drugs have on kids. And, yet, we continue to see no federal enforcement, especially
at the FTC.

Since the Trump Administration’s first term, we have seen a complete lack of federal leadership
under the Biden Administration on these key issues impacting families. States have had to bear
the sole burden in protecting consumers from these anticompetitive and deceptive practices. On
the competition front, for instance, Texas’s Attorney General sued BlackRock, Vanguard, and
State Street for conspiracy to artificially constrict the coal market, which “increased the cost of
electricity for Americans….”4

Even when it comes to enforcing basic consumer protection laws, Biden’s FTC—again, the
U.S.’s primary consumer protection enforcer—was noticeably absent. State AG offices operating
on shoestring budgets were the ones left alone to carry the cross. Texas AG, not the FTC, is
investigating how Big Pharma may be misleading parents through deceptive advertising by
failing to disclose the true (and potentially irreversible) side effects of puberty blockers.5 To
prevent the addictive effects social media has on kids, the Virginia’s AG, not the FTC, sued
TikTok for “intentionally [pushing its] addictive [products on]…adolescents, deceiv[ing parents]
about content suitability for children over 12, and misrepresent[ing] the risk of Chinese
government access to user data.”6 And Texas, not the FTC, is suing TikTok for “deceptively

1
Montana Dept. of Justice, Attorney General Knudsen Demands Answers from Wells Fargo for Debanking
Practices, Press Release (Mar. 7, 2024), https://dojmt.gov/attorney-general-knudsen-demands-answers-from-wells-
fargo-for-debanking-practices/.
2
U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, New Banking GOP Report Reveals How Asset
Managers Use Proxy, Press Release, https://www.banking.senate.gov/newsroom/minority/new-banking-gop-report-
reveals-how-asset-managers-use-proxy-voting-power-to-advance-liberal-
policies#:~:text=The%20staff%20report%2C%20titled%20%E2%80%9CThe,%2C%20and%20governance)%20and
%20DEI%20.
3
Fox News, House Oversight Chairman Says There’s Evidence of Conservative Debanking, Hints at Investigation,
(Jan. 26, 2025), https://www.foxnews.com/media/house-oversight-chairman-says-theres-evidence-conservative-
debanking-hints-investigation.
4
The Office of Ken Paxton Attorney General of Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton Sues BlackRock, State Street,
and Vanguard for Illegally Conspiring to Manipulate Energy Markets, Driving Up Costs for Consumers, Press
Release (Nov. 27, 2024), https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-sues-
blackrock-state-street-and-vanguard-illegally-conspiring-manipulate.
5
Office of the Attorney General of Texas Consumer Protection Division, Civil Investigative Demand (Apr. 14,
2022), https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/images/executive-
management/CID_Abbvie.pdf?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_t
erm=.
6
DataGuidance, Virginia: AG Sues TikTok for Violations of State Consumer Protection Laws, (Jan. 22, 2025),
https://www.dataguidance.com/news/virginia-ag-sues-tiktok-violations-state-consumer.
marketing its app as safe for minors, despite regularly showing inappropriate and explicit
material to children.”7

If we want to make any headway on any of these important issues, we need a strong FTC; these
AGs cannot do it alone.

The great news is that President Trump is poised to reverse the trend and fight for our families
and democracy. This is made evident by him selecting Mark Meador as commissioner of the
FTC. Mr. Meador has been a long-time advocate for strong, yet targeted, antitrust and consumer
protection enforcement. He is a well-regarded and influential antitrust scholar. He also has the
resume to back it up spanning across both antitrust agencies and as a staffer on Capitol Hill.
President Trump could not have chosen a better champion to assist him in ushering in America’s
golden age.

To be sure, the FTC will be an essential agency to ensure President Trump’s vision becomes
reality. We have less than 4 years to get our country back. Every day one of President Trump’s
nominees sit on the sidelines is another day lost in our golden age’s realization. Mr. Meador is
integral to that plan. It’s why the Senate confirming Mr. Meador expeditiously is paramount.

Thus, we respectfully request that the Senate Commerce Committee expedite Mr. Meador’s
confirmation, so that we can get America back on track.

Sincerely,

Aiden Buzzetti
President
The Bull Moose Project

Terry Schilling
President
American Principles Project

Julius Krein
Editor
The Journal of American Affairs

Josh Hammer
Senior Counsel
Article III Project

7
The Office of Ken Paxton Attorney General of Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton Sues TikTok for Deceptively
Promoting Its App as Safe for Children Despite Proliferation of Inappropriate and Explicit Content, Press Release
(Jan. 9, 2025), https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-sues-tiktok-deceptively-
promoting-its-app-safe-children-despite.
 Oren Cass
Founder & Chief Economist
American Compass

Nathan Leamer
Executive Director
Digital First Project

Clare Morell
Fellow
Ethics and Public Policy Center*

Ryan Williams
President
Claremont Institute

Rachel Bovard
Vice President of Programs
Conservative Partnership Institute*

Ryan Walker
Executive Vice President
Heritage Action for America

Nick Solheim
CEO
American Moment*

* Organization shown for identification purposes only. No endorsement by the organization is