FTC gets faster power to make rules against unfair business tricks.
H.R. 10540 — 21st Century FTC Act · Filed by Kathy Castor (D-FL) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Sep 24, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill lets the FTC write rules faster to stop unfair or deceptive practices. It removes steps that slow down rulemaking. The bill makes clear the FTC can fine companies that break the FTC Act itself.
Who it affects
Shoppers and consumers benefit from faster FTC rules. Companies that sell things or offer services may face faster enforcement and fines.
One thing to notice
The bill does not say what counts as unfair or deceptive. That definition stays in court cases and FTC past decisions.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Sep 24, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Sep 24, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- FTC — The Federal Trade Commission, the government agency that stops unfair business practices.
- unfair or deceptive practices — When a company tricks or misleads people to sell them something.
- rulemaking — The process of writing official rules that people and companies must follow.
- fine — Money a company must pay the government for breaking a rule.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,068 characters) on Sep 28, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“FTC gets faster power to make rules against unfair business tricks.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr10540/simple Report an error
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