By Jody Godoy
Feb 12 (Reuters) – The head of the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust division stepped down on Thursday less than a year after being appointed by President Donald Trump, marking the highest profile casualty in a battle within the administration over policing anti-competitive conduct.
Gail Slater, a veteran antitrust attorney, was confirmed in March to head the division, which enforces laws against illegal monopolies. She said on X it was “with great sadness and abiding hope” that she was leaving on Thursday. “It was indeed the honor of a lifetime to serve in this role,” she added.
Slater’s move throws the division into uncertainty as companies facing antitrust probes have increasingly hired Trump-connected lobbyists to influence the outcomes of their cases. It leaves the division with few senior leaders, following the departure of its head of civil litigation this week.
The news of her departure boosted shares in Ticketmaster owner Live Nation, which ended the day up by 2.5%. The antitrust division has sued the company, accusing it of dominating live entertainment markets. Semafor reported earlier this week that Live Nation lobbyists were negotiating with senior DOJ officials outside the antitrust division to avoid trial.
Dozens of states are also suing Live Nation, and a DOJ settlement would not end their claims.
In a statement, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said, “On behalf of the Department of Justice, we thank Gail Slater for her service to the Antitrust Division which works to protect consumers, promote affordability, and expand economic opportunity.”
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Omeed Assefi, who leads criminal enforcement, will take over as acting head of the division.
Spokespeople for the White House and for Vice President JD Vance, who Slater advised during his time in the Senate, declined to comment.
CORPORATE LOBBYISTS SOUGHT TO OVERRIDE SLATER
In July, Reuters and other outlets reported two of Slater’s deputies were fired for insubordination after Slater pushed back on orders to settle a case that would have blocked Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks.
The move exposed a power struggle within the Trump administration between proponents of robust antitrust enforcement and dealmakers seeking to leverage influence.
Roger Alford, one of the fired officials, said afterwards in a speech that two DOJ officials outside the antitrust division had “perverted justice” and acted inconsistently with the rule of law in connection with the settlement. He warned that lobbyists were jeopardizing the antitrust division’s efforts to protect Trump’s working class base.
“MAGA-in-name-only lobbyists are influencing their allies within the DOJ and risking President Trump’s populist conservative agenda,” Alford said.
Mike Davis, a Trump ally and former counsel to Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, advised HPE on the settlement. Davis also advised Live Nation on its negotiations with the DOJ, according to Semafor. And he was hired by Compass, the nation’s largest residential real estate broker, to avert a DOJ investigation into its bid to acquire rival Anywhere Real Estate, the Wall Street Journal reported in January.
“Good riddance,” Davis posted on social media site X about Slater’s departure.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, issued a statement calling for a congressional investigation of Slater’s departure. Both the U.S. House and Senate are currently controlled by Republicans.
“Every antitrust case in front of the Trump Justice Department now reeks of double-dealing,” Warren said.
‘AMERICA FIRST ANTITRUST’
Slater previously worked in the White House during Trump’s first term. She also worked for a decade as an antitrust lawyer at the Federal Trade Commission, where she brought cases to block mergers including Whole Foods’ acquisition of organic grocer Wild Oats. Slater, who was born in Ireland, did stints as an executive at Fox Corp and Roku.
Last year, Slater wrote that the “main thing” for her office was focusing on the average American’s biggest expenditures. Housing, transportation, food, healthcare and utilities led the list, according to a pie chart Slater posted on X. Prioritizing those issues was “America First antitrust,” she wrote.
The DOJ launched probes into egg producers and the meatpacking industry last year, and required U.S. power company Constellation Energy to divest three power plants in order to complete its $16.4 billion acquisition of Calpine Corporation.
Her division continued the U.S. crackdown on Big Tech companies that started during Trump’s first term, with major cases against Alphabet’s Google and Apple.
The antitrust division is currently reviewing Netflix’s proposed $82.7 billion deal to buy Warner Bros Discovery’s studio and streaming assets, Paramount Skydance’s rival bid, and Getty Images acquisition of rival Shutterstock, along with many other deals.
(Reporting by Jody Godoy in Los Angeles and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by William Maclean and Sonali Paul)
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