WASHINGTON — The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is negotiating the latest procedural hurdle in its effort to renew rulemaking concerning negative option plans, after a federal court previously vacated a “click-to-cancel” rule aimed at making it easier for consumers to cancel online subscriptions.
In a statement issued Friday, the FTC announced that it has submitted a draft Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) concerning its Negative Option Rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). The OIRA, which is part of the Office of Management and Budget, will review the ANPRM before the FTC can publish it in the Federal Register, at which point consumers will be able to submit comments.
The Commission vote approving the planned ANPRM submission for OIRA review was 2-0. There are currently only two FTC commissioners, leaving three vacant slots. One of the two current commissioners, Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson, previously voted against approving the updated Negative Option Rule, which passed 3-2 in October 2024.
The rule was later vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit pending further review, after critics objected that the agency exceeded its authority and skirted procedural rules by failing to issue a preliminary regulatory analysis.
In December 2025, the FTC posted a petition for rulemaking from the Consumer Federation of America and the American Economic Liberties Project. The public comment period on the petition ended Jan. 2.
The Negative Option Rule was originally adopted in the 1970s to protect consumers from being automatically enrolled in subscription plans without their consent. As amended in 2024, the rule would have been applied to almost all negative option programs, including automatic renewal and free-to-pay offers. Such changes would likely have required website operators to make substantial changes to sign-up and cancellation practices.
The current reinitiated process could lead to the FTC proposing the same or similar changes.
