New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has appointed former US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chairperson Lina Maliha Khan, a prominent Pakistani-American legal scholar, to co-chair his transition team, his office announced on Thursday.
Mamdani, 34, who made history as the first Muslim and South Asian to be elected mayor of New York City, will take office on January 1, 2026. He will lead the largest municipal government in the United States, overseeing a $116 billion budget and a city of global influence.
Khan, 36, who served as FTC chair during the Biden administration, will co-lead the transition alongside three veteran figures from New York City Hall, according to the mayor-elect’s statement.
In her remarks, Khan said: “New Yorkers sent a clear message this week that it’s time to build a city that working people can actually afford. I’m excited to help Zohran build a team that will usher in a new era for New York City and set a new model for Democratic governance.”
During her tenure at the FTC, Khan played a pivotal role in advancing President Joe Biden’s antitrust and consumer protection agenda. She was instrumental in tightening oversight of corporate mergers and leading efforts to protect consumers from unfair practices, such as “junk fees” and mandatory arbitration clauses.
Her leadership drew both praise and controversy — progressives hailed her for challenging corporate monopolies, while her aggressive stance toward Big Tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft drew criticism from Silicon Valley. Khan’s crackdown on Ticketmaster’s market dominance even won bipartisan support for a Justice Department lawsuit against the company.
Born in London to Pakistani parents, Khan immigrated to the United States in 2000. She is married to Dr Shah Rukh Ali, a cardiologist at Columbia University.
