Two recent articles from JD Supra highlight the FTC and its efforts to find alternative methods to increase enforcement.

In a combination of moves, the U.S. Senate has not only broken the partisan deadlock at the FTC by approving the nomination of Alvaro M. Bodoya, but has also seen its commerce committee push forward a bill that would restore the FTC's consumer refund power.

The U.S. Senate has moved ever closer to approving nominees to both the FTC and FCC which would break the current partisan deadlocks in both agencies. This is major news as these nominations could shift the regulatory direction of both commissions moving forward. Learn more in this article from the Washington Post.

According to an article from Bloomberg Law, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell is planning to introduce legislation this week to restore the FTC's consumer refund power.

Continuing its recent enforcement trend, the FTC took action against national retailers Kohls and Walmart for deceptive environmental claims by utilizing its Penalty Offense Authority. The commission has not only asked the court to order both retailers to stop making deceptive green claims but also pay the largest-ever civil penalty in this area.

The FDA and FTC continue their crack down on COVID-19 related product claims. According to an article from The National Law Review, these two regulatory bodies have now jointly issued warning letters regarding such claims to multiple CBD companies.

As we move toward the end of the first quarter of 2022, the FTC is not waning in its enforcement when it comes to misleading COVID-19 claims. In this recent article from Winston & Strawn, the commission's focus in this area is noted and the need for direct sales companies to implement systems for identifying misleading claims is emphasized.

Continuing to up its enforcement game, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a proposed order to stop two companies from continuing to promote and sell supplements after using baseless health claims. While this order is not finalized and does not include any direct sellers, it is yet another regulatory action to watch.

Retailers had to take a more direct-to-consumer (D2C) sales approach due to the pandemic and have found success in a space previously dominated by the direct sales industry.

With no significant movement on 13(b) legislation, the FTC is now looking for new ways to hold businesses accountable for deceptive claims according to this article from Kelley Drye.