The FTC and DOJ antitrust divisions are underfunded, as current and ex-staffers say tech giants use close personal ties and deep pockets to stymie regulation
U.S. regulators don't have enough money to properly check the tech giants, according to firsthand accounts Tweets: @ozm , @tobaccowars , @b_fung , @proffionasm , @justinbrookman , @michael_kades , @kjlabuz , @kantrowitz , @kantrowitz , @kantrowitz , and @kantrowitz Tweets: OneZero / @ozm : The funding disparity between the tech giants and their regulators leads to an unbalanced fight, current and ex-staffers said. https://read.medium.com/kKOjFl8 @tobaccowars : Not enough money...losing staff to the Tech Giants....it's an uphill battle, do you think Congress will come through for “We The People”? “The FTC and DOJ's antitrust division have a combined annual budget below what Facebook makes in three days.” @DOJPH https://bigtechnology.substack.com/ ... Brian Fung / @b_fung : “The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice's antitrust division have a combined annual budget below what Facebook makes in three days.” @Kantrowitz on how years of underfunding handicaps antitrust enforcers: https://bigtechnology.substack.com/ ... Fiona Scott Morton / @proffionasm : https://bigtechnology.substack.com/ ... The FTC and DOJ should have triple the budget they do. Justin Brookman / @justinbrookman : “DOJ is under-resourced, FTC it's ridiculous.” https://bigtechnology.substack.com/ ... Michael Kades / @michael_kades : Amplifying themes I have harped on: 'It's Ridiculous.' Underfunded FTC and DOJ Can't Keep Fighting the Tech Giants Like This by @Kantrowitz https://bigtechnology.substack.com/ ... Kevin LaBuz / @kjlabuz : Great piece from @Kantrowitz at @BigTechnology on funding for the DOJ Antitrust Division and FTC compared to the resources of $FB and $GOOG. Sadly it's a bringing a water pistol to a raging wildfire scenario. https://bigtechnology.substack.com/ ... https://twitter.com/... Alex Kantrowitz / @kantrowitz : New on @BigTechnology: U.S. regulators are severely underfunded and can't effectively check the tech giants. Current and former agency staffers tell me what it's like working with paltry budgets against trillion-dollar companies: https://bigtechnology.substack.com/ ... Alex Kantrowitz / @kantrowitz : Former FTC Chief Technologist @ashk4n on seeing his colleagues go to work for tech giants: “They'd know, in detail, all of the cases that the agency has currently and would be able to advise their clients whether to push hard on an issue or not.” https://bigtechnology.substack.com/ ... Alex Kantrowitz / @kantrowitz : When I started @BigTechnology, I promised to report on the game behind the scenes. For all the talk of the techlash and repercussions for Facebook, Amazon, Google, etc. this is that game. https://bigtechnology.substack.com/ ... Alex Kantrowitz / @kantrowitz : @BigTechnology Think about this: The FTC's annual budget is less than $350 million. The DOJ's antitrust division is less than $200 million. Facebook alone makes more than that combined in THREE DAYS. https://bigtechnology.substack.com/ ...
Context & Ripple Effects
When the FTC stood up its tech competition task force in early 2019, it promised scrutiny of past mergers across technology sectors — this reporting shows the manpower behind that mandate was thinner than the rhetoric, with current and ex-staffers describing a funding disparity against the very companies they police and personal ties that blunt regulatory will.
The arc since has confirmed the staffing squeeze rather than relieved it: two months after this piece, an internal FTC memo ordered cost cuts, a hiring freeze, and lower IT spending even as Congress pressed for action against Big Tech, and the eventual dismissal of the FTC's Facebook suit showed what under-resourced enforcement looks like when it reaches court.
First-order effects
- FTC and DOJ Antitrust Division staff face an uphill fight in which losing colleagues to the giants they investigate directly thins enforcement capacity while cases like Facebook's remain in play.
- Congress is now the named bottleneck-breaker: only appropriations can close the resource gap staffers describe, making agency budgets a live item in the Big Tech crackdown debate.
Second-order effects
- With litigation expected to drag, analysts have floated criminal charges against Google and Facebook executives as the deterrent civil suits alone cannot deliver — a sign the underfunded status quo pushes enforcement thinking toward harsher tools.
- The Facebook suit dismissals hand lawmakers concrete evidence that current antitrust law struggles to stick, converting the funding story into ammunition for legislation that would strengthen the agencies' statutory powers alongside their budgets.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, US antitrust enforcement structurally splits into two tiers: well-staffed private legal teams at the platforms versus budget-capped agencies, shifting real power over merger and monopoly outcomes toward the companies being regulated.
- Persistent enforcement weakness raises the odds that the durable fix arrives through Congress rewriting antitrust laws and agency funding together, rather than through case-by-case litigation wins.
The trend: Antitrust enforcement against Big Tech is becoming a contest of institutional budgets and statute-writing in Congress rather than courtroom skill, as agency resourcing lags platform war chests.