FTC publishes 2026–2030 agenda

The Federal Trade Commission has published a new five-year plan that keeps antitrust and consumer-protection enforcement at the center of its agenda through 2030. (ftc.gov) The plan was released on April 3, 2026, and the commission approved it by a 2-0 vote after staff review and a public comment process the agency said ran last fall. (ftc.gov) The document sets three goals for fiscal years 2026 through 2030: stop unfair or deceptive acts or practices, stop unfair methods of competition and illegal monopolies, and improve the agency’s own operations. (ftc.gov) The Federal Trade Commission is the federal agency that polices both consumer fraud and competition, so a strategic plan like this functions as a roadmap for investigations, lawsuits, rulemaking, research, and public guidance. (ftc.gov) The agency said the draft kept the same three-goal structure as the prior plan but was streamlined to refocus on what it called its “core mission areas.” The draft was opened for public comment on September 26, 2025, with comments due by October 17, 2025. (ftc.gov) That continuity is notable because the prior 2022-2026 plan was reissued in February 2025 to remove diversity, equity, and inclusion language after President Donald Trump’s January 2025 executive orders. The new 2026-2030 plan instead centers on enforcement language tied to deception, competition, and agency performance. (ftc.gov; ftc.gov) The competition section says the agency will protect Americans from unfair methods of competition, prevent illegal monopolies, and promote competition, language that reaches merger review as well as conduct cases involving dominant firms and restraints on rivals. (ftc.gov) The consumer-protection section says the agency will target unfair or deceptive practices in the marketplace, the same legal framework the commission uses in cases involving scams, hidden fees, misleading claims, and data-use practices. (ftc.gov) The plan also ties those priorities to resources. On its budget page, the agency says it is using a fiscal 2026 budget of $383.6 million to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive conduct and to promote competition in the marketplace. (ftc.gov) For companies, the document does not create new law on its own, but it does show where the Federal Trade Commission says it intends to spend time, staff, and litigation effort over the next five years. The roadmap is now in place; the next signal will come from the cases and rules the agency chooses to pursue. (ftc.gov; ftc.gov)