As a leader within the Federalist Society, an organization dedicated to protecting the rule of law in American society, I am emboldened by the courage and leadership of Utah’s own Melissa Holyoak in fighting so aggressively to restore the rule of law to Washington, D.C.

Holyoak, a proud graduate of the University of Utah and later the state’s Solicitor General, has always put Utahns’ interests first. When Holyoak was appointed as a commissioner for the Federal Trade Commission — the Washington, D.C., agency in charge of protecting American consumers — it came as little surprise considering her impeccable career.

Holyoak wasted no time getting settled in her new office. She made it clear that she’s had enough. Enough of the Biden administration’s flouting of standard norms and operating procedures to advance its destructive, anti-Utah agenda. Enough of it prioritizing ideology before consumer-driven policies. And enough of its misuse of the U.S.’s antitrust laws to protect donors and large corporations instead.

Earlier this month, Holyoak made her frustration known in the most courageous way she could — by coming out publicly against her own commission’s work. And she did it all in the name of protecting drug affordability, which data shows is a chief worry for Utahns, 70% of which are struggling with rising health care costs.

Holyoak sounded the alarm bell on how the Biden FTC appears to be attempting to use its regulatory powers against drug cost reduction groups without having any data or evidence to back up its crusade against them.

For decades, Utah’s businesses have hired groups, called pharmacy benefit companies, to lower their employees’ prescription drug prices. These groups have been called the Costcos of the health care industry. Working with so many of our health plans at one time, they have the influence needed to secure bulk price discounts from drugmakers and prevent them from restricting Utahns’ access to affordable medications.

Forget that the Government Accountability Office has found that these groups have saved Medicare Part D $29 billion in a single year. And forget that even the FTC itself advocated on PBMs’ behalf after conducting an extensive 2005 investigation. The drugmakers have been aggressively lobbying Washington, D.C., to shift this narrative, and earlier this month, the Biden FTC responded in kind with a new report on how PBMs “squeeze independent pharmacies.”

It would be one thing if the FTC found new information and could explain why all the previous cost-savings data is no longer reflective of current realities, but Holyoak found that the commission’s latest report did not provide any new data whatsoever.

In her dissent, she wrote, “the Report was plagued by process irregularities and concerns over the substance–or lack thereof–of the original order.”

She also made it clear that the FTC’s actions will further politicize Washington, D.C., and “further degrade the legitimacy of the Commission.”

Legitimacy, increasingly in short supply in our federal government, was once something the FTC prided itself on. Every legal professional and consumer advocate knows just how vital a role the FTC has historically played in protecting American consumers from bad actors. It has obtained this high esteem from remaining so data driven, ensuring everything it does is narrowly confined to the goal of protecting consumers. No longer. As Holyoak pointed out, it’s believed that the FTC’s chief economic advisor even resigned over this health care report because the FTC decided to play politics instead of remaining objective.

The White House playing politics is one thing. It’s expected. But a nonpartisan agency that deals with legal matters playing the same games is not supposed to happen. We are a nation of laws, and this abuse of power must end.

We thank Commissioner Holyoak for courageously standing up for our best interests and working to reverse this concerning trend. She may not get much appreciation for it in the halls of power in D.C., but here in Utah, it won’t soon be forgotten.

Jackson Cho is president of the Federalist Society’s Brigham Young University Chapter in Provo, Utah.