A Sudden Doj Departure Is Stoking Fear That Trump’s Populist Antitrust Movement Is Dead

The resignation of the Justice Department’s top antitrust cop is fueling a fear — even from some of Donald Trump’s own supporters — that corporate influence is corroding the populist antitrust movement the president championed at the beginning of his second term.

Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater, who stepped down from the Justice Department’s antitrust division Thursday after less than a year on the job, had pledged to bring what she christened “America First Antitrust” to Washington, especially against Silicon Valley.

That populist platform won her allies in the MAGA base, such as Laura Loomer and Steve Bannon, and even the backing of many Democrats who helped confirm her in a 78-19 vote in March. But Slater has faced resistance from within the administration in trying to implement her vision, and former antitrust officials say the problem could get worse with her gone.

Commenting on Slater’s resignation, Loomer wrote in a Thursday X post: “Terrible. This means Big Tech is winning.”

William Kovacic, chair of the Federal Trade Commission under President George W. Bush, described Slater’s departure as “a deeply unfortunate development” that will make the antitrust division less equipped to resist pressure from corporations.

“If you’re an antitrust division careerist, how do you go about doing your job now when you just watched your boss walk the plank?” he said.

The White House and Slater did not respond to requests for comment. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement, “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.” The DOJ did not answer further questions about corporate influence on the antitrust division.

Trump made reining in the power of the nation’s largest companies — especially its tech giants — a key part of his 2024 platform in a bid to win over consumers and the middle class. In announcing Slater’s nomination last year, Trump posted on Truth Social, “Big Tech has run wild for years, stifling competition in our most innovative sector.”

The president had backed up those kinds of sentiments with action during his first term, as his antitrust regulators filed suits aimed at breaking up Google and splitting up Facebook.

But Reed Showalter, an attorney adviser for competition policy in the Biden DOJ, said further entrenchment of corporate influence will erode what’s left of Slater’s agenda. “It’s the end of this type of populist antitrust in the Trump administration,” Showalter said. “What we’re going to see is something that matches much more closely with a direct pay-to-play scheme.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) posted Thursday on X that he was “sorry to see her leave,” and praised Slater’s work on “competition issues important to rural America.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) took a more aggressive stance, calling Slater’s departure “corruption.”

“A small army of MAGA-aligned lawyers and lobbyists have been trying to sell off merger approvals that will increase prices and harm innovation to the highest bidder,” Warren said in a statement. The senator also expressed concerns over how existing antitrust cases within the Justice Department will play out.

The Justice Department is close to settling a monopolization case against entertainment company Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster. The case is scheduled to head to trial next month.

Ticketmaster’s stock surged shortly after Slater’s announcement.

Slater’s departure comes after repeated clashes with Bondi and other administration officials during her short tenure.

DOJ leadership overruled her in June to approve Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s acquisition of Juniper Networks, a deal that merges the second and third largest companies in the wireless network market. Two senior antitrust attorneys were subsequently fired the following month over their opposition to the deal. One of them, Roger Alford, would later accuse “MAGA-In-Name-Only lobbyists” of interfering in the case.

Even more upheaval struck during the past week, as Semafor reported that Bondi had overruled Slater’s decision not to renew a contract for Slater’s chief of staff, Sara Matar. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mark Hamer, Slater’s second in command, also abruptly resigned on Monday, taking a position at the law firm Baker McKenzie.

According to Bloomberg, Slater’s departure came after the White House requested she resign.

Some in the president’s orbit are applauding Slater’s exit, even those who once supported her, such as Mike Davis, who once served as Trump’s legal adviser.

“Good riddance,” Davis wrote in a post on X Thursday, less than 10 months after he had praised her on the same network as “my good friend.” Both Davis and former Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway are advising Live Nation in talks with the Justice Department.

Some former antitrust officials told POLITICO that Slater was an important check on the corporate influence and politics that was seeping into enforcement matters.

“We’re probably going to see real threats to cases like Ticketmaster and Apple … and even things like the Google cases,” Showalter said.

Kovacic told POLITICO, “The professional judgment of the department is certainly being ignored in instances when lobbyists and other fixers can circumvent the traditional decision-making process.”