As Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani prepares to take office this January, his transition team cochair, Lina Khan, is shedding light on how he could tackle “corporate lawbreakers.”
During an episode of “The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart” on Thursday, the late-night host asked Khan how much the mayor influences policies.
“So there are going to be certain provisions where he’s going to need to have to work closely with city council or with the governor, including relating to some of what the tax proposals could be, but there are agencies within his jurisdiction that the mayor has stand-alone authority to sue,” Khan said. “So, if you find corporate lawbreakers, you can use the DCWP, a department that is focused on consumer and worker protection, to take that on.”
DCWP refers to the New York City Department of Consumer and Work Protection. The department’s website says its aim is to “protect and enhance “the lives of all players in the marketplace, including consumers, businesses, and workers.”
Before joining Mamdani’s transition team, Khan served as the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission from 2021 to this January, when Andrew N. Ferguson replaced her. During her tenure at the FTC, Khan strongly advocated an antitrust and consumer protection agenda, which put her at odds with Silicon Valley, Big Tech, and venture capitalists. Under Khan, the FTC investigated Amazon Prime’s subscription service and filed a lawsuit against Meta to block an acquisition.
On Thursday, Khan also spoke about how working at the FTC compares to working at the city level, saying the latter has a broader reach.
“I mean, you have more limited impact in that your jurisdiction is New York City, but you have all sorts of tools at your disposal, and we’ve seen that in part through some of the proposals that Mayor-elect Mamdani ran on in terms of what he’s thinking about, for the rent, for childcare, for buses,” Khan said. “So, they have agencies that look a little bit like the FTC in terms of some of the consumer protection tools, but they also have agencies that are focused on small businesses.”
Khan added: “How do we create a more level playing field for them, as well as agencies that are thinking about economic development? And do we want to do economic development in the city in a way that’s very skewed toward big corporate interests, or do we want to have, again, more of a level playing field?”
This month, Mamdani defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo — who ran as an independent after Mamdani won the Democratic primary — and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa in the mayoral race, capturing the attention of people across the political spectrum.
He is the youngest person to become Mayor of New York City in over 100 years and the first Muslim to hold the position.
His victory came despite criticism from prominent billionaires, including former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Bill Ackman, regarding his policies and what some considered a lack of experience. They, alongside other wealthy critics, gave millions to groups supporting Cuomo.
During a press conference on November 5, following Mamdani’s victory, Khan lambasted “corporate power and money.”
“What we saw last night was New Yorkers not just electing a new mayor, but clearly rejecting a politics where outsized corporate power and money too often end up dictating our politics,” she said.
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