[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":72,"_74":72},"mediaId",6328090,"mediaKeyId","2321666-508eb5f60f0bc6f2a6dcf2ca100e3c77","parentId",2321666,"title","Gail Slater Faces Senate Questions on Antitrust Priorities, Big Tech and Drug Prices","audioSeconds",9679,"startMs",2095850,"endMs",11775540,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2321666-508eb5f60f0bc6f2a6dcf2ca100e3c77&start=2095&end=11775","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2321666-508eb5f60f0bc6f2a6dcf2ca100e3c77/thumbnail_2095850.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6328090/Gail-Slater-Faces-Senate-Questions-on-Antitrust-Priorities-Big-Tech-and-Drug-Prices","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6328090-5b887def74a59b5ca08feb6dd5336c8d/orig.mp4?Expires=1771159256&Signature=GuFi3ip8MJyqG7oh9O41HB-fQtMI98YDLhVkw6y~LrWVUHx6s0dBK9loYkkwDicI0vxAIqgHNx-Gyn2P3wi8VcRuWJ87VYjUopOojy-mFAVKK6BbkoQaIxuO37t~5YF4LOmxp9EVBq519XoyqzdMdEcgSnB5tLrtlLoaW03jiXoDWg0kTfC~2Emj2lq~lmxuFNoTcmu5A5YE25ACwgUD4aPRXdox9l2n3UAGOWM4ERk0rYWp8acemdrOZidKf4zzBt58EvqiwEhBsx9QQLmaG79YUR8DLHpxIU0fn0ySNekalYwkDc4ZIq0DqdN2vukW9eAQG~ucyIWVxRsllH~FoQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary","date","2025-02-12T00:00:00Z","article","Gail Slater, President Trump's nominee to be assistant attorney general for antitrust, told the Senate Judiciary Committee she would work to “apply the antitrust laws vigorously and fairly with clear rules of the road for all,” and senators from both parties pressed her on enforcement priorities including big tech litigation, prescription drug costs and merger remedies.

Why it matters: The assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division leads DOJ’s civil and criminal antitrust enforcement. The hearing canvassed how the division will handle ongoing high-profile cases, whether it has sufficient resources, and how it will coordinate with state attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission.

Representative Mike Simpson introduced Slater and described her work in both the public and private sectors. Slater described a career spanning private practice, a decade at the Federal Trade Commission, two tours in government at the National Economic Council and as a Senate economic policy advisor, and recent work for technology-sector clients. She said the Sherman Act has long served as Congress’s backstop to preserve competitive markets and referenced bipartisan roots for antitrust enforcement.

Several senators asked Slater whether the Antitrust Division would continue major pending cases, particularly those involving large technology platforms. She said she planned to read into open litigation promptly, meet with career staff and “take it from there,” and noted that resource constraints are a practical consideration for complex civil antitrust litigation. Senator Amy Klobuchar, whose panel has worked on merger fees and division resources, pressed Slater to continue efforts to secure adequate funding; Slater pledged to advocate for resources if confirmed.

Senators from both parties raised consumer-price topics. Senator Richard Blumenthal focused on farm and food-industry concentration and rising grocery costs; Slater said she would consider consolidation and supply shocks (for example, avian flu affecting egg supplies) when deciding enforcement priorities. Multiple senators asked about the effect of concentration in technology markets on speech and access. Slater agreed that when markets become highly concentrated, private suppression of speech and deplatforming become easier and that antitrust enforcement can help by restoring competition.

Slater told senators she would coordinate with the FTC and state attorneys general; she pointed to the merger-filing-fees modernization law as a recent step increasing resources for enforcement. She told Senator Klobuchar that robust remedies such as divestitures, if well-crafted, can preserve competition without “blowing up” deals that could otherwise be pro-competitive.

On pharmaceuticals and pharmacy benefit managers, Slater said she was concerned about rising prescription costs and industry consolidation; she cited consolidation among several large companies and suggested the Antitrust Division should examine anti-competitive practices across the sector.

Context and supporting details: Slater received a letter of support from nine former heads of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, which senators cited during the hearing. The nominee emphasized a technocratic enforcement approach—enforcement where the evidence of anti-competitive conduct shows harm to consumers—while acknowledging administration priorities and resource trade-offs.

The committee did not vote at the hearing. Senators asked for follow-up documents and pressed for commitments on resource advocacy, continued pursuit of ongoing litigation where warranted, and close coordination with state enforcers and the FTC.

","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Nomination Hearing: February 12th, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Gail Slater, President Trump's nominee for assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division, told senators she would \"apply the antitrust laws vigorously and fairly\" while fielding questions about big tech, pharmaceutical consolidation, ticketing bots, and the resources the Antitrust Division needs to pursue complex cases.","taxTitle","Judiciary: Senate Committee, Standing Committees - House & Senate, Congressional Hearings Compilation, Legislative, Federal","taxId",1997,"location","","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":72,"_74":72},6328094,"Senate Judiciary Presses Todd Blanche on Conflicts, DOJ Independence",11407,906645,12313875,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2321666-508eb5f60f0bc6f2a6dcf2ca100e3c77&start=906&end=12313","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2321666-508eb5f60f0bc6f2a6dcf2ca100e3c77/thumbnail_906645.jpg","/articles/6328094/Senate-Judiciary-Presses-Todd-Blanche-on-Conflicts-DOJ-Independence","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6328094-e15485c354253547a5eb454c58c7b5b3/orig.mp4?Expires=1771159256&Signature=OdgqxMEio4HbW1dIXbHeeTFuktFBGKi1hiGWlqVPW0F~lXAf4RHWBAi9BNTBnw5CDPF1jELYavZOeq2VCyCcrXuSV1zJEvJe8UKmUNKKN9gmH0h2q-Us2DIQZQN-e5INA1Cb7NeKo6KNcdeXv1t-3QV1OKTKaiS6Zl0Fa7YdMTA0liImenMJEMX3KhtC1KjHJID9sAQed1IBKjTQhLyjwTHekFgo1CyJ7zs~ylXqNvmFQkWAjIsC1n3L3JC36hRbceKCWCEObrzO~TLqw5E3sen3cC4qtKX9sNkB9WqWiKd3HMIfwAodDZ~xa7ya9okBSghReVFuysUbAGd2-1P1WA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Todd Blanche, President Trump's nominee to be deputy attorney general, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he would “follow the law” and that “politics will play no role,” while senators repeatedly pressed him about conflicts of interest tied to his prior work as the president’s private lawyer and about recent personnel moves at the Department of Justice that critics say risk politicizing the agency.

Why it matters: The deputy attorney general would be the Justice Department’s second-in-command and would oversee components including the FBI, the criminal division and national security teams. Senators from both parties raised questions about how Blanche would handle requests from the White House, whether he would recuse himself from matters involving his former client and how he would safeguard career prosecutors and investigators.

Republican Chairman Charles Grassley opened the hearing by praising both nominees for public service, and ranking member Senator Dick Durbin and other Democrats pushed Blanche for commitments that he would resist political pressure. Durbin asked directly whether Blanche would act to protect line prosecutors and investigators from political interference, saying, “If they're out to settle political score, I'm not voting for them.” Blanche replied several times that he would follow the law and refuse political influence: “Politics will play no role. Full stop. Period.”

Several senators focused on recent personnel and record requests that have alarmed career Justice Department staff and agents. Durbin described a request for lists of FBI personnel who worked on the Jan. 6 investigations and recalled briefings from FBI agent representatives who said disclosing identities could endanger agents and their families. Multiple senators cited the figure of about 5,000 agents involved in the investigation and asked whether requiring the agents to identify themselves publicly would chill law-enforcement work.

Blanche, who recounted his career as a federal prosecutor and later a private defense lawyer, told senators he had defended clients against high-profile prosecutions and described the volume of discovery he and defense teams received in recent federal cases: “In just the two federal cases by Jack Smith, there was more than 11 terabytes of discovery dropped on us,” he said, arguing the pace of filings and scheduling created practical burdens for defense teams.

Democrats and Republicans both pressed Blanche on how he would handle recusals and conflicts. Senator Richard Blumenthal and others asked whether he would recuse himself from any review or oversight of matters in which he had represented the former president, including the Jan. 6 prosecutions and the Mar-a-Lago matter. Blanche said he would follow department rules on recusals and ethics and repeatedly deferred to career ethics officials on particular recusal determinations.

Other lines of questioning covered inspector general removals, alleged reassignments of career prosecutors across divisions, hiring freezes and whether the department would continue to pursue matters free of political considerations. Blanche told senators he supported Attorney General Pam Bondi’s early memos directing reviews to guard against outside influence but declined to make commitments about personnel decisions that would be taken after consultation with career leaders.

Context and supporting details: Blanche has earned public statements of support from more than 100 former colleagues at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which senators referenced in the hearing. He said he put himself through law school at night while working as a paralegal and later clerked for federal judges; he emphasized his long experience on both the prosecution and defense sides.

The committee did not vote at the hearing. Senators submitted written questions and sought additional records. Blanche and committee members repeatedly returned to a set of core themes: whether DOJ will enforce the law free of partisan influence, how the department will protect the safety and careers of line prosecutors and agents, and whether nominees with past client relationships can oversee or review matters tied to those former clients.

The hearing closed with the committee reserving time for written follow-up; Blanche’s answers left some senators seeking clearer recusal commitments and more specific pledges on preserving evidence and safeguarding career staff.

","At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, senators pressed Todd Blanche, President Trump's nominee for deputy attorney general, about potential conflicts stemming from his prior role as the former president's private lawyer and broader concerns about politicization at the Department of Justice and the FBI.","actionData","errors"]

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Gail Slater Faces Senate Questions on Antitrust Priorities, Big Tech and Drug Prices

Senate Judiciary Presses Todd Blanche on Conflicts, DOJ Independence