The Federal Trade Commission
Summary
The FTC ran on $383.6 million and 1,100 FTE in FY2026 -- about $1.12 for every U.S. resident -- while its own estimate says antitrust enforcement, including merger review, saved consumers roughly $3.7 billion in FY2025, nearly ten times the agency's budget.
What is this organization?
What does it do?
In FY2025 the filed 40 complaints in federal court and won 49 permanent injunctions or orders requiring more than $1.8 billion in consumer redress or disgorgement⧉; 14 more judgments imposed over $1 billion in civil penalties⧉. The agency issued nine new administrative complaints, 11 final administrative orders, and returned $317.7 million in redress directly to consumers from defendants⧉. On competition, it brought 14 antitrust enforcement actions, litigated five matters in court, and issued consent orders in seven more⧉. Its Consumer Sentinel Network logged more than 9.2 million fraud, identity-theft, and Do Not Call reports⧉, and more than 258 million phone numbers are registered on the Do Not Call Registry⧉.
What does it cost to run — money and people?
Congress funded the FTC at $383.6 million for FY2026⧉ -- the exact level the agency requested: 1,100 FTE, split 551 in Consumer Protection ($194.6 million) and 549 in Competition ($189.0 million). Most funding comes from the businesses it regulates, not taxpayers: $300.95 million in Hart-Scott-Rodino merger fees and $15 million in Do Not Call fees cover 82% of the budget, leaving $67.6 million from the general fund. Divided across the Census Bureau's 341.8 million U.S. residents⧉, that's $1.12 per person.
View data as table
| Protecting Consumers | 194,582 | 551 FTE -- 50.7% of budget |
|---|---|---|
| Promoting Competition | 189,018 | 549 FTE -- 49.3% of budget |
Why is it good for society?
By the 's own estimate, its antitrust enforcement, including merger review, saved consumers about $3.7 billion during FY2025⧉ -- nearly 10 times the FY2026 budget -- while its FY2025 court and administrative actions separately ordered more than $1.8 billion returned to consumers or disgorged from wrongdoers. Without a merger reviewer, concentrated markets raise prices and lower wages unchecked; without a complaint-driven enforcer, the scams behind 9.2 million Sentinel reports in a single year would go unanswered.
- The 's FY2026 budget works out to $1.12 per U.S. resident -- and its own estimate says antitrust enforcement alone saved consumers about $3.7 billion in FY2025, nearly 10 times the agency's entire budget.
- Merger-filing fees and Do Not Call fees fund about 82% of the 's FY2026 budget ($315.95 million of $383.6 million); general taxpayer appropriations cover the remaining $67.6 million.
Your handles.* Think you've been scammed or misled by a business? File a report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov -- it feeds directly into the Consumer Sentinel Network that law enforcement nationwide uses. To stop unwanted telemarketing calls, register your number at DoNotCall.gov. To weigh in on an active rulemaking or proposed order, the agency's public comments page lists every open docket and how to submit.
Sources(4) ▾
- Federal Trade Commission, Federal Trade Commission Congressional Budget Justification, Fiscal Year 2026 (2025-05-30) — The 's own FY2026 budget request to Congress -- source for the FY2026 request of $383.6 million and 1,100 , the Protecting Consumers / Promoting Competition split by activity, the offsetting-collection funding sources (HSR and Do Not Call fees), and the proposed appropriations language. One Wayback Save Page Now capture was attempted for this document and failed (archive.org's SPN was returning 520 errors at the time of research); no snapshot exists yet, so archiveUrl is left null per this iteration's source-hazard guidance. ftc.gov
- Federal Trade Commission, Federal Trade Commission Congressional Budget Justification, Fiscal Year 2027 (2026-04-03) — The 's own FY2027 budget request -- its transmittal letter confirms Congress enacted the 's FY2026 funding at exactly $383,600,000, matching the prior year's request. Also the source for the agency/mission description (1914 founding, 1938 Wheeler-Lea amendment, 80+ statutory mandates, three bureaus, eight regional offices), the FY2025 workload/enforcement highlights (court and administrative actions, Consumer Sentinel Network, Do Not Call Registry, Consumer Response Center, antitrust enforcement actions), and the FY2025 antitrust-enforcement consumer-savings and consumer/Treasury-return estimates used in this entry's mechanism section. ftc.gov · original document
- U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Population Growth Slows Due to Historic Decline in Net International Migration (Vintage 2025 National and State Population Estimates) (2026-01-27) — The Census Bureau's own press release announcing its Vintage 2025 national population estimate -- source for the 341.8 million U.S. resident population (as of July 1, 2025) used as this entry's per-person denominator. census.gov · original document
- Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives (uscode.house.gov), 15 U.S.C. Section 41 -- Federal Trade Commission established; membership; vacancies; seal (2025-01-01) — The current U.S. Code text -- source for the 's statutory creation on September 26, 1914, its five-Commissioner structure, Senate confirmation, and the no-more-than-three-from-one-party rule. uscode.house.gov · original document
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The traces to the Federal Trade Commission Act, which President Woodrow Wilson signed on September 26, 1914⧉, creating an independent commission of five Senate-confirmed Commissioners, no more than three from one political party⧉. Congress's 1938 Wheeler-Lea amendment added authority to stop "unfair or deceptive acts or practices"⧉; today the holds enforcement or administrative duties under more than 80 laws⧉, run from Washington headquarters and eight regional offices through three bureaus: Competition, Consumer Protection, and Economics⧉.