Once upon a time Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes was thought to be the leading candidate to chair the Federal Trade Commission in the Trump administration. That no longer seems to be the case.
Bloomberg reports Reyes is out of the running according to two people who have knowledge of the situation.
Reyes, a Republican, had been in the running to lead the agency, which is responsible for reviewing mergers between companies and enforcing consumer-protection laws. Acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen is still in the mix, according to another person.
Joseph Simons, an antitrust lawyer at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and a former director of the FTC’s bureau of competition, is now among those being considered for the chairman’s position, according to two of the people, who declined to be named because the deliberations are confidential.
Simons and a spokesman for Reyes didn’t respond to requests for comment.
