15 U.S.C. § 41 — Federal Trade Commission established;

Page 48 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 41 1 So in original. Sec. 74. Rules and regulations. 75. Retaliation against country prohibiting im- portations. 76. Retaliation against restriction of importa- tions in time of war. 77. Discrimination against neutral Americans in time of war. SUBCHAPTER I—FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION § 41. Federal Trade Commission established; membership; vacancies; seal A commission is created and established, to be known as the Federal Trade Commission (here- inafter referred to as the Commission), which shall be composed of five Commissioners, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Not more than three of the Commissioners shall be mem- bers of the same political party. The first Com- missioners appointed shall continue in office for terms of three, four, five, six, and seven years, respectively, from September 26, 1914, the term of each to be designated by the President, but their successors shall be appointed for terms of seven years, except that any person chosen to fill a vacancy shall be appointed only for the un- expired term of the Commissioner whom he shall succeed: Provided, however, That upon the expiration of his term of office a Commissioner shall continue to serve until his successor shall have been appointed and shall have qualified..1 The President shall choose a chairman from the Commission’s membership. No Commissioner shall engage in any other business, vocation, or employment. Any Commissioner may be re- moved by the President for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. A vacancy in the Commission shall not impair the right of the remaining Commissioners to exercise all the powers of the Commission. The Commission shall have an official seal, which shall be judicially noticed. (Sept. 26, 1914, ch. 311, § 1, 38 Stat. 717; Mar. 21, 1938, ch. 49, § 1, 52 Stat. 111; 1950 Reorg. Plan No. 8, § 3, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3175, 64 Stat. 1265.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1938—Act Mar. 21, 1938, inserted proviso clause to third sentence. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS Functions of Federal Trade Commission (1) under Flammable Fabrics Act [section 1191 et seq. of this title] and under this subchapter to extent that such functions relate to administration of Flammable Fab- rics Act, and (2) under Act of August 2, 1956, [section 1211 et seq. of this title], transferred to Consumer Prod- uct Safety Commission by section 30 of Act Oct. 27, 1972, Pub. L. 92–573 [section 2079 of this title]. By section 3 of act Sept. 26, 1914, Bureau of Corpora- tions abolished and all employees and functions of said Bureau transferred to Federal Trade Commission. CLARIFICATION OF STATUS OF SUBSIDIARIES AND AFFILIATES Pub. L. 106–102, title I, § 133(a), (b), Nov. 12, 1999, 113 Stat. 1383, provided that: ‘‘(a) CLARIFICATION OF FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION JURISDICTION.—Any person that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled directly or indirectly by, or is directly or indirectly under common control with, any bank or savings association (as such terms are defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act [12 U.S.C. 1813]) and is not itself a bank or savings associa- tion shall not be deemed to be a bank or savings asso- ciation for purposes of any provisions applied by the Federal Trade Commission under the Federal Trade Commission Act [15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.]. ‘‘(b) SAVINGS PROVISION.—No provision of this section [amending section 18a of this title] shall be construed as restricting the authority of any Federal banking agency (as defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act [12 U.S.C. 1813]) under any Federal bank- ing law, including section 8 of the Federal Deposit In- surance Act [12 U.S.C. 1818].’’ Executive Documents TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS Executive and administrative functions of Federal Trade Commission, with certain reservations, trans- ferred to Chairman of such Commission by Reorg. Plan No. 8 of 1950, set out below. REORGANIZATION PLAN NO. 8 OF 1950 Eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3175, 64 Stat. 1264 Prepared by the President and transmitted to the Sen- ate and the House of Representatives in Congress as- sembled, March 13, 1950, pursuant to the provisions of the Reorganization Act of 1949, approved June 20, 1949 [see 5 U.S.C. 901 et seq.]. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION SECTION 1. TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS TO THE CHAIRMAN (a) Subject to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, there are hereby transferred from the Federal Trade Commission, hereinafter referred to as the Com- mission, to the Chairman of the Commission, herein- after referred to as the Chairman, the executive and ad- ministrative functions of the Commission, including functions of the Commission with respect to (1) the ap- pointment and supervision of personnel employed under the Commission, (2) the distribution of business among such personnel and among administrative units of the Commission, and (3) the use and expenditure of funds. (b)(1) In carrying out any of his functions under the provisions of this section the Chairman shall be gov- erned by general policies of the Commission and by such regulatory decisions, findings, and determinations as the Commission may by law be authorized to make. (2) The appointment by the Chairman of the heads of major administrative units under the Commission shall be subject to the approval of the Commission. (3) Personnel employed regularly and full time in the immediate offices of members of the Commission other than the Chairman shall not be affected by the provi- sions of this reorganization plan. (4) There are hereby reserved to the Commission its functions with respect to revising budget estimates and with respect to determining upon the distribution of appropriated funds according to major programs and purposes. SEC. 2. PERFORMANCE OF TRANSFERRED FUNCTIONS The Chairman may from time to time make such pro- visions as he shall deem appropriate authorizing the performance by any officer, employee, or administra- tive unit under his jurisdiction of any function trans- ferred to the Chairman by the provisions of this reorga- nization plan. Page 49 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 42 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF CHAIRMAN The functions of the Commission with respect to choosing a Chairman from among the membership of the Commission are hereby transferred to the Presi- dent. MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT To the Congress of the United States: I transmit herewith Reorganization Plan No. 8 of 1950, prepared in accordance with the Reorganization Act of 1949 and providing for reorganizations in the Federal Trade Commission. My reasons for transmit- ting this plan are stated in any accompanying general message. After investigation I have found and hereby declare that each reorganization included in Reorganization Plan No. 8 of 1950 is necessary to accomplish one or more of the purposes set forth in section 2(a) of the Re- organization Act of 1949. The taking effect of the reorganizations included in this plan may not in itself result in substantial imme- diate savings. However, many benefits in improved op- erations are probable during the next years which will result in a reduction in expenditures as compared with those that would be otherwise necessary. An itemization of these reductions in advance of actual ex- perience under this plan is not practicable. HARRY S. TRUMAN. REORGANIZATION PLAN NO. 4 OF 1961 Eff. July 9, 1961, 26 F.R. 6191, 75 Stat. 837 Prepared by the President and transmitted to the Sen- ate and the House of Representatives in Congress as- sembled, May 9, 1961, pursuant to the provisions of the Reorganization Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 203, as amend- ed [see 5 U.S.C. 901 et seq.]. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION SECTION 1. AUTHORITY TO DELEGATE (a) In addition to its existing authority, the Federal Trade Commission, hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’, shall have the authority to delegate, by published order or rule, any of its functions to a divi- sion of the Commission, an individual Commissioner, a hearing examiner, or an employee or employee board, including functions with respect to hearing, deter- mining, ordering, certifying, reporting or otherwise acting as to any work, business, or matter; Provided, however, That nothing herein contained shall be deemed to supersede the provisions of section 7(a) of the Administrative Procedure Act (60 Stat. 241), as amended [see 5 U.S.C. 556]. (b) With respect to the delegation of any of its func- tions, as provided in subsection (a) of this section, the Commission shall retain a discretionary right to review the action of any such division of the Commission, indi- vidual Commissioner, hearing examiner, employee or employee board, upon its own initiative or upon peti- tion of a party to or an intervenor in such action, with- in such time and in such manner as the Commission shall by rule prescribe: Provided, however, That the vote of a majority of the Commission less one member thereof shall be sufficient to bring any such action be- fore the Commission for review. (c) Should the right to exercise such discretionary re- view be declined, or should no such review be sought within the time stated in the rules promulgated by the Commission, then the action of any such division of the Commission, individual Commissioner, hearing exam- iner, employee or employee board, shall, for all pur- poses, including appeal or review thereof, be deemed to be the action of the Commission. SEC. 2. TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS TO THE CHAIRMAN In addition to the functions transferred by the provi- sions of Reorganization Plan No. 8 of 1950 (64 Stat. 1264) [set out as a note under this section], there are hereby transferred from the Commission to the Chairman of the Commission the functions of the Commission with respect to the assignment of Commission personnel, in- cluding Commissioners, to perform such functions as may have been delegated by the Commission to Com- mission personnel, including Commissioners, pursuant to section 1 of this reorganization plan. MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT To the Congress of the United States: I transmit herewith Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1961, prepared in accordance with the Reorganization Act of 1949, as amended, and providing for reorganiza- tion in the Federal Trade Commission. This Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1961 follows upon my message of April 13, 1961, to the Congress of the United States. It is believed that the taking effect of the reorganizations included in this plan will provide for greater efficiency in the dispatch of the business of the Federal Trade Commission. The plan provides for greater flexibility in the han- dling of the business before the Commission, permit- ting its disposition at different levels so as better to promote its efficient dispatch. Thus matters both of an adjudicatory and regulatory nature may, depending upon their importance and their complexity, be finally consummated by divisions of the Commission, indi- vidual Commissioners, hearing examiners, and, subject to the provisions of section 7(a) of the Administrative Procedure Act (60 Stat. 241), by other employees. This will relieve the Commissioners from the necessity of dealing with many matters of lesser importance and thus conserve their time for the consideration of major matters of policy and planning. There is, however, re- served to the Commission as a whole the right to re- view any such decision, report or certification either upon its own initiative or upon the petition of a party or intervenor demonstrating to the satisfaction of the Commission the desirability of having the matter re- viewed at the top level. Provision is also made, in order to maintain the fun- damental bipartisan concept explicit in the basic stat- ute creating the Commission, for mandatory review of any such decision, report or certification upon the vote of a majority of the Commission less one member. Inasmuch as the assignment of delegated functions in particular cases and with reference to particular prob- lems to divisions of the Commission, to Commissioners, to hearing examiners, to employees and boards of em- ployees must require continuous and flexible handling, depending both upon the amount and nature of the business, that function is placed in the Chairman by section 2 of the plan. By providing sound organizational arrangements, the taking effect of the reorganizations included in the ac- companying reorganization plan will make possible more economical and expeditious administration of the affected functions. It is, however, impracticable to itemize at this time the reductions of expenditures which it is probable will be brought about by such tak- ing effect. After investigation, I have found and hereby declare that each reorganization included in the reorganization plan transmitted herewith is necessary to accomplish one or more of the purposes set forth in section 2(a) of the Reorganization Act of 1949, as amended. I recommend that the Congress allow the reorganiza- tion plan to become effective. JOHN F. KENNEDY. § 42. Employees; expenses Each commissioner shall receive a salary, pay- able in the same manner as the salaries of the judges of the courts of the United States. The commission shall appoint a secretary, who shall receive a salary, and it shall have authority to employ and fix the compensation of such attor- neys, special experts, examiners, clerks, and