Appearing before a House panel last week, Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Khan tried to justify her request for an eye-watering $590 million in new taxpayer resources for fiscal 2024.

Khan failed to make the case and instead attempted to wriggle out of tough questioning from Republican lawmakers. Rather than provide the FTC with an absurdly large budget increase, lawmakers should shed light on how the agency is misusing existing funds.

At least some of the agency’s current resources are being spent helping European bureaucrats attack American companies. In a recent joint press conference, the FTC and Department of Justice announced that they would be sending staff to assist the European Union in implementing the Digital Markets Act. The DMA is a new law that targets American technology companies and exempts Chinese, Russian, and European companies from similar regulation.

A recent study showed that the DMA and Digital Services Act (DSA) could cost American companies between $22 billion-$50 billion in new compliance costs. Those costs will be passed to the consumer through higher prices. In a sizzling line of inquiry, Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) questioned the wisdom of using American taxpayer dollars to help European bureaucrats raise costs for American consumers. Khan danced around Duncan’s questions, instead painting her work as a function of "good government" and standard agency procedure.

Khan’s reign as FTC chairwoman has been anything but standard.

Agency morale has crumbled since Khan took the helm – surveys indicate that the FTC has plummeted from one of the best places to work in government to one of the worst. Staff have privately labeled Khan’s leadership style as "abusive" and "tyrannical." In a recent MLEX survey , FTC staffers said that Khan has "isolated herself and alienated herself" from rank-and-file staff. Indeed, FTC employee attrition rates have skyrocketed.

In turn, Khan has installed hand-picked, unpaid consultants from left-wing nonprofit groups to carry out her agenda. According to an inspector general report from last year, Khan failed to provide these consultants with adequate guidance and constraints on the scope of their work. During the hearing, Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL) rightly pointed out that using ideological unpaid consultants to shape agency policy only further corrodes the FTC’s reputation under Khan.

Taken together, these facts paint a picture of an agency off the rails. Lawmakers from both the House and Senate have questioned the legality of Khan’s unpaid consultant program. Numerous bills that would alter or reduce the FTC’s power over the economy have gained traction in Congress.

One thing is for certain – there is no reason for lawmakers to throw good money after bad. Congress should not send the FTC another penny until the agency resolves these issues.

Tom Hebert is the Director of Competition and Regulatory Policy for Americans for Tax Reform and executive director of the Open Competition Center.