FTC Withdraws Request for Delay in Amazon Prime Case Due to Staffing Issues
**FTC Withdraws Request for Delay in Amazon Prime Case Due to Staffing Issues**
By Theo Wayt
Source: The Information
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission asked a judge on Wednesday to delay the start of a trial in its case alleging that Amazon unlawfully tricked people into signing up for Prime subscriptions, then withdrew the request later in the day.
In a Seattle federal court hearing on Wednesday, the FTC asked for a two-month delay to the trial, which is due to begin in September. FTC lawyer Jonathan Cohen said in court that the FTC is facing staffing and budget issues.
"There is an extremely severe resource shortfall in terms of money and personnel," FTC lawyer Jonathan Cohen said, according to Bloomberg. "The resource constraints are severe and really unique to this moment." Several hours later, the FTC withdrew the request and said it could meet the original schedule, Reuters reported.
The brief request came as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency are making deep cuts across the federal government, including through buyouts and layoffs at agencies. The FTC's suit against Amazon, which was filed in 2023, accuses the company of violating consumer protection laws by using deceptive tactics to encourage people to buy Prime memberships and making the subscriptions difficult to cancel. It's separate from the FTC's broader antitrust suit against Amazon that's due to go to trial in 2026.