Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
The Trump administration is arguing with itself about tech antitrust this August as Congress is in recess and investigations move along at the FTC and DOJ, often in scattershot directions.
- The conflicts include the White House's AI action plan that could clash with the FTC's work and reports of dissent over the recent Hewlett Packard settlement.
The big picture: The Trump administration rescinded a competition executive order from former President Biden on Wednesday, in perhaps the clearest divergence from the Biden era on antitrust yet.
What they're saying: "America First Antitrust focuses on empowering the American people in the free markets, not enabling regulators and bureaucrats to prescribe outcomes," antitrust chief Abigail Slater said in a statement.
- The Biden-era EO said that "the answer to the rising power of foreign monopolies and cartels is not the tolerance of domestic monopolization, but rather the promotion of competition and innovation by firms small and large, at home and worldwide."
The other side: "Trump's decision is a step backward for consumers, entrepreneurs, workers, and family farmers. It will lead to higher prices, fewer choices, and less innovation," Sen. Amy Klobuchar said in a statement.
- "The MAGA antitrust agenda has gone from pro-enforcement populism to a corrupt free-for-all in less than a year," said Douglas Farrar, who was former FTC chair Lina Khan's senior advisor. "It has left the regulators saying, I have antitrust principles, and if Trump doesn't like them, I have other [principles]."
What we're watching: As the judge in the DOJ vs. Google Search case prepares to issue remedies that could see the Google Chrome browser spun off or exclusivity arrangements banned, lenient settlements are raising eyebrows.
- Along with Google, we'll have close eyes on continued developments in the DOJ-Apple case and the FTC-Amazon case.
HPE/Juniper drama: Last month, the DOJ approved Hewlett Packard acquiring rival Juniper Networks, despite reports of infighting in the department and the firing of two senior antitrust division officials who reportedly didn't approve of the settlement.
- House Judiciary committee Democrats pressed AG Pam Bondi over it, writing in a letter that the "settlement terms do not appear to adequately address the anticompetitive harms alleged in DOJ's complaint opposing the acquisition in January."
- "The American people deserve better than this collapse into corruption and plutocracy," the lawmakers wrote.
Meta/Scale AI: The FTC so far has yet to probe Meta's major investment in Scale AI, which critics are calling a de facto acquisition, as we previously reported.
- Trump's AI action plan also calls for agencies to scrap work that could slow down AI development, throwing into flux ongoing work by the FTC into AI and competition.
The bottom line: MAGA antitrust may share some of the same DNA as Biden-era antitrust, but the cracks are showing more than ever, especially when it comes to the appetite for litigation.
- Slater said in a video on X about a pair of recent health care and home rental settlements that "rather than the unknown outcome of litigation years from now, these settlements mean we can preserve our taxpayer money for the fights that matter."
