DOJ's antitrust shakeup could spark dealmaking
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Gail Slater on Thursday resigned as the Justice Department's top antitrust cop, after less than a year on the beat.
Why it matters: This suggests a rift within the White House on how to regulate companies, and that the laissez-faire faction is winning.
- The upshot could be a surge in U.S. dealmaking — a bat signal to Big Tech that it can consolidate.
Behind the scenes: Slater appears to have quit to avoid being fired, and didn't mention President Trump in her initial announcement via X. So why would she have been pushed?
- The beginning of the end appears to have been when she and other antitrust officials opposed the settlement allowing Hewlett-Packard Enterprise to buy Juniper Networks — a case that DOJ had sued to block. Slater's top deputy and merger enforcement chief both were ousted in the aftermath.
- She may also oppose a similar sort of settlement in a pending antitrust case against Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation, which has added notable Trump allies to its board and advisory rolls.
- One of those reported advisors, Mike Davis, tweeted "good riddance" in response to Slater's resignation. He also crtiticized her for losing the Google case.
- It's also notable that this all happened one day after AG Pam Bondi testified in front of Congress, so Bondi wasn't able to be questioned on it.
Look ahead: The Live Nation trial is set to begin March 2, and the judge still must rule on Live Nation's motion to dismiss.
- If he allows all or part of the case to proceed, that's when we could learn if Slater was canned to pave the way for a settlement.
Look ahead: Slater will be succeeded on an interim basis by Omeed Assefi, who served in the same interim role between Slater's nomination and confirmation.
The bottom line: Slater was an ally of MAGA anti-tech populists who viewed her as a more palatable version of Lina Khan.
- But now she's gone, and big business as usual might be back.
