SCOTUS slashes FTC's power to seek monetary awards in court, banning a tool that it used to fine tech and other companies engaged in unfair business practices
& I'm going to fight vigorously against it. Rebecca Kelly Slaughter / @rkslaughterftc : Thank you for your leadership and the time you have dedicated to this incredibly important issue, Chair @SenatorCantwell. https://twitter.com/... Richard Blumenthal / @senblumenthal : This Supreme Court decision deals a devastating blow to the @FTC & consumers—seemingly turning the agency into a paper tiger. Hundreds of millions of dollars stolen by scammers, fraudsters, & corporate bad actors won't be returned to people's pocketbooks.https://www.politico.com/ ... Adrienne Lawrence / @adriennelaw : Remember: The FTC is currently suing Facebook for illegally maintaining a monopoly in social networking (antitrust). And in 2019, it fined Facebook $5 billion for sharing too much data with developers. All said, the FTC does BIG THANGS and needs the power to collect coins. Rep. Frank Pallone / @frankpallone : The Supreme Court just struck down FTC's ability to return money to people who have been scammed. I'm holding a hearing on Tuesday to consider legislation that would restore this important power so that FTC can continue to fulfill its mission to protect American consumers. https://twitter.com/... Sen. Maria Cantwell / @senatorcantwell : Protecting consumers and compensating them for harm is a paramount duty of the FTC. We are working to move legislation immediately to make sure this authority is properly protected. https://twitter.com/... Justin Brookman / @justinbrookman : Unsurprising but disappointing. But this is something Congress can fix! Surely we can all agree that companies that profit from ripping consumers off shouldn't be allowed to keep that money. https://twitter.com/... Elie Mystal / @elienyc : The issue here was a payday lender who got busted. FTC tried to make them pay $1.27 billion in restitution, but the court ruled the FTC couldn't use the provision they thought they could to force disgorgement. Elie Mystal / @elienyc : Last case today is a unanimous decision finding that the FTC can't seek restitution in certain cases where traders violate the law. Always remember folks, that Roberts Court is the most *protective of financial shenanigans court* in American history. Mark Joseph Stern / @mjs_dc : The Supreme Court's third and final opinion today is a unanimous decision by Breyer in AMG Capital Management v. FTC that bars the FTC from seeking restitution or disgorgement under §13(b) of the FTCA. https://www.supremecourt.gov/ ... https://twitter.com/... Josh Gerstein / @joshgerstein : 3rd and final #SCOTUS decision today (no Obamacare) is on FTC powers. Court unanimously says Congress never gave FTC power to demand restitution from companies engaged in fraudulent practices. Breyer writes https://www.supremecourt.gov/ ... Matt Stoller / @matthewstoller : Does it really matter that the FTC lost its 13(b) authority? The FTC has been irrelevant for 30 years, ever since Tim Muris pioneered using that authority. If Congress wants to act, it should make a private right of action to enforce the FTC Act. @PharmaCheats
Context & Ripple Effects
The Court's ruling in AMG Capital Management removes the FTC's ability to obtain restitution or disgorgement through §13(b), while Rep. Frank Pallone is seeking a hearing on legislation to restore consumer redress. That makes Congress—not merely FTC litigation strategy—the immediate venue for rebuilding the remedy.
The decision sits within a broader record of courts defining the agency's room to act: the FTC's amended Meta monopoly case was allowed to proceed, but later courts also struck down its noncompete rule and blocked its click-to-cancel rule.
First-order effects
- The FTC can no longer seek restitution or disgorgement under §13(b), limiting the monetary relief it can pursue against AMG Capital Management and other alleged unfair-business-practice defendants.
- Congress faces a concrete choice over whether to give the FTC an express route to return money to consumers, as contemplated by Pallone's proposed hearing.
Second-order effects
- The FTC's case against Facebook/Meta puts greater practical weight on proving monopoly allegations and securing forward-looking relief rather than relying on §13(b) monetary awards.
- Businesses facing FTC investigations gain a stronger defense against court-ordered monetary recovery under §13(b), while the agency must rely on other statutory tools or congressional action.
Third-order effects
- The ruling points toward FTC enforcement being shaped more explicitly by the remedies Congress writes into statute, rather than by expansive readings of general enforcement provisions.
- Later judicial setbacks for the agency's noncompete ban and click-to-cancel rule reinforce a pattern in which FTC policy initiatives face sustained court scrutiny across both litigation and rulemaking.
The trend: FTC authority is increasingly being determined through statutory limits and judicial review, pushing the agency to pair enforcement ambitions with clearer congressional mandates.