Key Points
- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission seeks to delay Amazon’s Prime subscription lawsuit due to budget and staff shortages.
- The lawsuit accuses Amazon of deceptive practices using “dark patterns” to enroll users in Prime.
- Trump’s administration has restricted FTC hiring, delayed transcript access, and imposed office relocations.
- Amazon opposes the delay, arguing that changes in trial attorneys are common in litigation.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has requested a federal court in Seattle to delay the September trial in its lawsuit against Amazon, citing severe financial and personnel shortages. The agency alleges that Amazon misled consumers into enrolling in automatically renewing Prime subscriptions using deceptive user-interface designs known as “dark patterns.”
During a hearing before U.S. District Judge John Chun, FTC attorney Jonathan Cohen revealed that the agency faces a severe resource crisis due to budget cuts initiated under President Donald Trump’s administration. These constraints have significantly impacted the FTC’s ability to proceed with the case as planned.
Cohen stated that the FTC has lost employees due to resignation offers, a hiring freeze, and workforce reductions, limiting the team available for trial preparation. The Trump administration’s executive order restricting new hires to one for every four employees who leave has further strained the agency’s capacity.
The lawsuit, filed in 2023, accuses Amazon of using manipulative user-interface designs to trick consumers into signing up for Prime and making cancellation difficult. Amazon, which claims to have over 200 million Prime subscribers worldwide, has denied wrongdoing. The case also names three senior Amazon executives as defendants.
Cohen emphasized that the case is of significant financial scale, involving at least $1 billion in claims. However, the FTC’s operational constraints have delayed access to crucial trial materials. New rules require attorneys to purchase legal transcripts on the slowest and cheapest delivery schedule, causing weeks-long delays.
Further complicating matters, the FTC’s lease on its primary office building is not being renewed, forcing potential office relocations amid trial preparations. Travel restrictions for FTC staff have also limited the agency’s ability to conduct investigations and gather evidence effectively.
Amazon’s attorney, John Hueston, opposed the FTC’s request, arguing that trial attorneys frequently change in major cases, referencing Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative. Judge Chun, questioning the FTC’s ability to recover from its crisis within months, requested that the agency formally submit its delay request by Friday.
