Two billionaire Harris donors hope she will fire FTC Chair Lina Khan

By Jody Godoy

(Reuters) - Billionaire Democratic donors Barry Diller and Reid Hoffman said in interviews this week they hope Kamala Harris will replace Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan if she becomes U.S. president, openly rejecting a pillar of President Joe Biden's antitrust policy.

Khan has been at the forefront of the Biden administration's push to use U.S. antitrust law to boost competition and address high prices and low wages. Khan, who oversaw the FTC's ban on noncompete agreements, has drawn the ire of corporate groups, but won fans including Donald Trump's running mate, JD Vance, for her skepticism towards big business.

Now, big money Democratic donors this week publicly said Khan should not be part of a potential Harris administration.

Diller, chairman of travel site Expedia, said in a recent Bloomberg interview that he would donate the maximum allowed to Harris' campaign. He said in an interview on CNBC on Friday that he would lobby Harris to replace Khan, saying Khan was against "almost anything" business wants to do to grow efficiently.

While the FTC under Khan has garnered a reputation for blocking mergers, the agency reviews fewer than 2% of deals annually and blocks fewer than 1%. In the deals that it has sued to block, including the merger of grocery chains Kroger's and Albertsons, the FTC has highlighted not only the effects on consumers but potential fallout for workers.

"Chair Khan is honored to serve in the Biden Harris administration, where she has protected consumers, workers, and entrepreneurs from illegal conduct and corporate abuse," said FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar.

Diller's comments came after LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman said in an interview on CNN on Thursday that he hoped Harris would replace Khan, calling the FTC chair "a person who is not helping America." Hoffman has donated $7 million to a Democratic super PAC, a political action committee that raises funds for candidates.

Hoffman sits on the board of Microsoft, which bought LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in 2016. The FTC sued the software-maker over its acquisition of gaming company Activision Blizzard.

Prominent Democratic senators have spoken out in support of Khan, including senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Warren said on Friday that Khan should continue her work, calling it "a big reason the economy is growing strong as we saw with yesterday's GDP data."

(Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)