Lina Khan, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), is learning some hard lessons about central planning. A recent report concludes that Khan’s relationship with FTC employees is “in tatters.” Many of the dozens of people interviewed describe a “‘toxic environment’ at the agency.” “Staffer after staffer” complained that “Khan’s hierarchical leadership style and lack of organizational experience is leading to a poor use of the FTC’s limited resources.” In a recent survey, almost 30 percent of the agency’s employees said that the “FTC’s senior leaders lacked honesty and integrity”—a sixfold increase from the year before Khan took over.
Khan is a self-styled crusader for the oppressed, but at the agency she runs “even expert staffers say they feel marginalized and afraid to speak truth to power.” Her concern for worker well-being, one individual acidly remarked, does not seem to extend to her own organization, where people are now expected “to work all hours.” Many of the officials interviewed for the report were “notably emotional.”
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