Great Lakes Wire

With prices at the pump on the rise in Michigan and across the nation for months now and President Biden persisting in blaming oil companies for price gouging, the Functional Government Initiative (FGI) is challenging the administration over a lack of transparency on the matter.

On June 6, the nonprofit organization announced that it has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over its investigation into the oil and gas industry.

According to a press release, the lawsuit was filed on the grounds that the FTC violated transparency obligations surrounding the announcement of an investigation into possible price gouging by the oil and gas industry.

"Prices at the pump are at their highest level ever, even before the summer driving season, and the expectation is that there’s no end in sight," FGI Spokesperson Peter McGinnis said in the press release. "The government has continued to point fingers while dismissing any hint that its policies may have contributed to the crisis. If the government really is using its resources to investigate and punish energy producers rather than incentivize them to ease Americans’ pain at the pump, the public deserves to know."

In November 2021, with gas prices and inflation already well on the rise, Biden asked the FTC to investigate possible illegal profiteering or price gouging by the oil and gas firms, according to FGI. This was not the first instance the administration responded to crises by calling on the FTC to conduct investigations into related private-sector entities.

Among the first of the president's investigations was the meat-packing industry, followed by oil and gas, and most recently the baby formula industry amid the shortage crisis. According to FGI, the administration’s go-to play in these situations has been FTC investigations.

In seeking to discover the conversations and facts regarding the probe, FGI began looking into the oil and gas FTC investigation in early January. However, in March, its request for documents was denied, according to the release. The FTC took the stand that every record was part of a deliberative and pre-decisional process. Even after FGI’s successful appeal of this decision, however, the FTC has continued to deny FGI access to these records.

The FGI is a nonpartisan organization that works to demand transparency and integrity from government agencies and elected officials. The group repeatedly has expressed concerns over what it sees as the federal government’s perplexing response and actions taken in an attempt to reduce gas prices.

As of Tuesday, the average price for gas in Michigan is $5.16 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). At this time last year, it was $3.13.