New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has named former U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Maliha Khan, a renowned Pakistani-American jurist, to co-chair his transition team, he announced Thursday.
Maamdani, 34, the first Muslim and originally from South Asia, will be sworn in on Jan. 1, 2026. He will lead America's largest city, a job that comes with a $116 billion budget and global scrutiny.
Khan, 36, who led the FTC during the Biden administration, will co-lead Mamdani's transition team along with three other veterans of New York City Hall, the seat of local government, the mayor-elect announced in a statement.
“New Yorkers sent a clear message this week that it's time to build a city that working people can truly afford. I'm excited to help Zohran build a team that will usher in a new era for New York City and establish a new model for Democratic governance,” Khan said in a statement.
Khan played an important role in former President Joe Biden's antitrust and consumer protection agenda.
As chair of the FTC, she intensified scrutiny of corporate mergers while spearheading the administration's efforts to defend Americans from unfair trade practices such as “junk tariffs” and mandatory arbitration clauses.
While progressives applauded Khan's efforts to crack down on corporate power, the Biden administration's aggressive stance toward big tech companies also helped antagonize several senior Silicon Valley figures.
As chairman of the FTC, Khan was willing to take on big corporations like Amazon and Microsoft to combat monopolies, earning praise from Democrats and Republicans alike, including conservative JD Vance, now vice president, and Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist.
Khan's action against Ticketmaster, the world's largest ticketing company, garnered bipartisan support for a Justice Department lawsuit against the company in May of last year.
Khan was born in London to Pakistani parents who immigrated to the United States in 2000. She is married to Dr. Shah Rukh Ali, a cardiologist at Columbia University.
