HR 10540 Introduced Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
To amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to provide the Commission with notice and comment rulemaking authority respecting unfair or deceptive acts or practices and to provide for civil penalties for violations of such Act respecting unfair or deceptive acts or practices, and for other purposes.
Summary
- Amends section 18 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which governs the Commission's rulemaking on unfair or deceptive acts or practices, by striking several existing procedural requirements, including subsection (c) and parts of subsections (b), (d), and (e).
- Changes the judicial review standard for those rules so a court may set aside a Commission action that is not supported by substantial evidence in the rulemaking record taken as a whole.
- Makes conforming amendments to section 22 of the Act, which addresses judicial review and related procedures.
- Amends section 5(m)(1)(A) of the Act to refer expressly to violations of the Act's provisions on unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the civil penalty provision.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
-
Rep. Castor, Kathy (D-FL) [#14]
1 cosponsor
-
Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. (D-IL) [#9]
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Kathy Castor’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- Employer not reported $7,775
- TRB DEVELOPMENT $6,600
- CULLINAN PROPERTIES $6,600
- LINDSAY HART $5,800
- BGR GROUP $5,500
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Kathy Castor → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Sep 24, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. · house
- Sep 24, 2026 Introduced in House
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 24, 2026
Ms. Castor of Florida (for herself and Ms. Schakowsky) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to provide the Commission with notice and comment rulemaking authority respecting unfair or deceptive acts or practices and to provide for civil penalties for violations of such Act respecting unfair or deceptive acts or practices, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “21st Century FTC Act”.
SEC. 2. RULEMAKING RESPECTING UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRACTICES.
The Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) is amended—
(1) in section 18—
(A) in subsection (b)—
(i) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3);
(ii) in paragraph (1), by striking “, and shall also” and all that follows and inserting a period; and
(iii) by striking “(1) When prescribing” and inserting “When prescribing”;
(B) by striking subsection (c);
(C) in subsection (d)—
(i) in paragraph (1)—
(I) by striking “(A) a statement” and all that follows through “(B) a statement” and inserting “a statement”; and
(II) by striking “; and (C) a statement” and all that follows and inserting a period; and
(ii) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking “subsections (b) and (c)” and inserting “subsection (b)”; and
(D) in subsection (e)—
(i) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking “the transcript required by subsection (c)(5),”;
(ii) in paragraph (3), by striking “, or if” and all that follows and inserting the following: “, or if the court finds that the Commission’s action is not supported by substantial evidence in the rulemaking record (as defined in paragraph (1)(B) of this subsection) taken as a whole. The term ‘evidence’, as used in this paragraph, means any matter in the rulemaking record.”;
(iii) in paragraph (5)(C), by striking the first and third sentences;
(iv) by striking paragraph (2); and
(v) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through
(5) as paragraphs (2) through (4), respectively; and
(2) in section 22—
(A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking “or section 18”; and
(B) in subsection (c)—
(i) in paragraph (1), by striking “, except” and all that follows and inserting a period; and
(ii) in paragraph (2), by striking “Except as specified in paragraph (1), no” and inserting “No”.
SEC. 3. CIVIL PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ACT RESPECTING UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRACTICES.
Section 5(m)(1)(A) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45(m)(1)(A)) is amended—
(1) by inserting “this Act or” after “violates”; and
(2) by inserting “a violation of this Act or is” before “prohibited”. <all>
Comments