Politico reported that the chief of staff for the new FTC Chair, Lina Khan, told all FTC staff members late last month to cancel all of their scheduled speaking engagements as part of a "moratorium on public events and press outreach."  

Apparently, the chief of staff, Jen Howard, told FTC staff that, "I want to make clear that for any situations where staff are currently scheduled to do a public event and thus need to contact event organizers to withdraw their participation, the message they should convey is that they are sorry they can no longer participate due to pressing matters at the FTC." 

Howard told Politico that, "The American public needs this agency solving problems, not speaking on panels."  

For years, FTC staff members have frequently spoken at advertising law conferences around the country -- and these sessions are often some of the most popular and informative sessions.  With big changes ahead at the FTC, these sessions will certainly be missed by conference attendees.  It will be interesting to see whether this is just a temporary moratorium or whether this is a permanent change in policy.