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Gail Slater, an aide to JD Vance, former staff attorney at the Federal Trade Commission and former Fox Corp. executive, has been nominated by Donald Trump to lead the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division in his upcoming term.
In announcing the choice of Slater, Trump signalled that the department would continue to pursue cases against major tech giants. Some of the cases, like a lawsuit against Google over its search dominance, were started in his first term and continued under President Joe Biden’s antitrust chief, Jonathan Kanter.
“Big Tech has run wild for years, stifling competition in our most innovative sector and, as we all know, using its market power to crack down on the rights of so many Americans, as well as those of Little Tech!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I was proud to fight these abuses in my First Term, and our Department of Justice’s antitrust team will continue that work under Gail’s leadership.”
Slater also will play a major role in determining whether the greenlight or challenge major media mergers, with a wave of consolidation expected over the next few years. Paramount Global’s merger with Skydance is currently pending before the division.
“In her new role, Gail will help ensure that our competition laws are enforced, both vigorously and FAIRLY, with clear rules that facilitate, rather than stifle, the ingenuity of our greatest companies,” Trump wrote.
Slater has been an economic adviser to Vance, and served on Trump’s National Economic Council during his first term.
Vance has been supportive of one of Biden’s picks — Lina Khan, who has served as chair of the Federal Trade Commission and has taken a much more aggressive approach to antitrust enforcement.
A federal judge ruled earlier this year that Google was a monopolist and violated antitrust law, and is currently deciding what remedies the tech giant must take to resolve the situation.
