SYY Sysco Corp

WASHINGTON—A Republican member of the Federal Trade Commission is stepping down and returning to academia, shortly after brokering a first-of-its-kind policy agreement with the agency's Democratic majority.

Commissioner Joshua Wright, 38 years old, will leave on Aug. 24 after nearly three years at the FTC, the commission said Monday.

Mr. Wright had developed a reputation as the FTC's most conservative commissioner and was a frequent dissenter to antitrust enforcement actions brought under Democratic leadership, including to the commission's successful challenge earlier this year to the planned merger of rival food distributors Sysco Corp. and US Foods Inc.

Last week Mr. Wright reached agreement with the FTC's three Democrats to issue the commission's first-ever guidelines for how it will use its century-old powers to police "unfair" competition by businesses.

The agreement laid out formal principles the commission said it would follow when considering enforcement actions under Section 5 of the FTC Act, a 100-year-old provision that declares "unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce" to be unlawful.

Mr. Wright had made the unfairness guidelines his top priority, citing the business community's need for clarity and predictability on FTC enforcement practices. He pledged to support compromise guidelines that weren't as conservative as he preferred.

Republicans on Capitol Hill last week voiced support for the agreement, though the FTC's other GOP commissioner, Maureen Ohlhausen, criticized the guidelines as inadequate and lacking proper limits on FTC authority.

Mr. Wright in an interview said he was leaving the FTC to return to teaching full-time at George Mason University School of Law, where he said he will also direct the school's Global Antitrust Institute, which focuses on research and education efforts in antitrust.

With the FTC's Section 5 guidelines now in place, "it's a good time to go back home to Mason," he said.

Mr. Wright's departure shouldn't have a major effect on the five-member FTC's enforcement approach because Democrats still hold a majority three seats.

Write to Brent Kendall at brent.kendall@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 17, 2015 13:35 ET (17:35 GMT)

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