Nov 13 (Reuters) - A change of leadership at the U.S.

Federal Trade Commission, a central part of the Biden

administration's pro-consumer agenda and a lightning rod for

corporate criticism, will likely take months under the Trump

administration.

What happens to Chair Lina Khan?

FTC Chair Lina Khan's fight against corporate consolidation

in the name of consumers won fans among Democrats and some

Republicans, including Vice President-elect JD Vance. Despite

Vance's praise for her approach, Khan is not seen as likely to

stay after the inauguration.

Gail Slater, an adviser to Vance, a former FTC lawyer and an

executive at Fox Corp ( FOXA ) and Roku ( ROKU ), is involved in

vetting candidates to lead the agency, according to sources

familiar with the matter. She is also viewed as a potential

candidate for FTC chair.

Who will lead the agency next?

While Khan's term expired in September, she can stay on as a

commissioner until a replacement is confirmed -- though she will

likely be replaced as chair soon after Trump takes office.

One of the two Republicans on the commission, Andrew

Ferguson, former chief counsel to Republican Senator Mitch

McConnell, or Melissa Holyoak, Utah's former solicitor general,

is expected to become the agency's acting chair and set

priorities for FTC staff while a replacement is confirmed.

Both Holyoak and Ferguson, who once served as Virginia's

solicitor general, were involved in antitrust cases against Big

Tech companies before they became commissioners.

Under Biden, it took six months for Khan to be appointed,

and the FTC had an acting chair for nearly the first year and a

half of the first Trump administration from 2017-2021.

Khan may choose to step down in January, leaving the

commission split evenly between Republicans and Democrats.

What's the process for appointing a new chair?

Typically, an incoming president nominates new agency heads,

who go through a confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate

where they face questioning, and are then voted on, first in a

Senate committee, and then by the entire Senate.

The timing of the process depends on how Trump prioritizes

appointments -- typically other agencies are a priority over the

FTC.

Trump, however, has called on Republicans who will lead the

Senate to keep it in recess when its new term begins, which

would allow him to install agency leaders without a vote to

serve for up to two years.

What happens to Khan's initiatives?

Khan's broad approach to antitrust enforcement could

continue under a Trump administration, but rules the FTC passed

during her tenure are on shakier ground.

If Republicans gain control of the U.S. House of

Representatives in addition to the majority they will have in

the U.S. Senate, Congress could invalidate a rule passed in

October requiring companies to provide easy cancellation methods

for subscriptions. The FTC's two Republican commissioners voted

against the rule.

The same goes for any rule the agency might pass before the

end of Biden's term, such as a ban proposed late last year on

undisclosed or misleading "junk" fees that can raise prices for

concert tickets, hotel rooms and more.