# 119-hr-10540: 21st Century FTC Act

119-hr-10540, 21st Century FTC Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Castor, Kathy [D-FL-14] (D-FL); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-07).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-10540
- As of: 2026-10-07
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-10540
- Congress: 119
- Title: 21st Century FTC Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-09-24
- Sponsor: Rep. Castor, Kathy [D-FL-14] (D-FL)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Commerce
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-07

## Summary

**Would give the Federal Trade Commission clearer rulemaking powers and new civil-penalty authority to tackle unfair or deceptive acts or practices.** The bill called the "21st Century FTC Act" would rewrite how the agency makes rules and expand when it can seek fines for UDAP violations. - Consumers: Could see faster, clearer agency rules aimed at stopping fraud and deceptive business practices, which may produce new protections or enforcement actions. - Businesses and regulated firms: Would face a streamlined rulemaking process and a wider set of violations that can trigger civil penalties, raising compliance and enforcement risk. - Courts and agency process: Would narrow judicial review by applying a "substantial-evidence" standard, redefine what counts as rulemaking evidence, and remove some transcript and record requirements, shifting more control over the record to the FTC.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9] (D-IL), 2026-09-24T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Wider civil penalties for FTC: cost, medium. If enacted, the bill would expand the wording that triggers civil penalties so the FTC could tag violations of the FTC Act itself as penalty violations. That means more company actions could lead to civil fines under section 5(m)(1)(A). This change would take effect upon enactment.
- New FTC rulemaking and review: mixed, medium. If enacted, the bill would let the Federal Trade Commission use a shorter, streamlined process to make rules about unfair or deceptive practices. It would remove some required transcript and record steps and define "evidence" broadly as any matter in the rulemaking record. Courts would review FTC r…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act
- 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act
- 119-hr-5862: American Energy Independence and Affordability Act
- 119-hr-5361: George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2025
- 119-hr-7481: Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026
- 119-hr-3376: Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-10540 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/10540)

## Related
- [119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7977)
- [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973)
- [119-hr-5862: American Energy Independence and Affordability Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5862)
- [119-hr-5361: George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5361)
- [119-hr-7481: Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7481)
- [119-hr-3376: Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3376)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-10540 (as of 2026-10-07).