Although more than a month has passed since Trump’s inauguration, some positions in his administration remain unconfirmed. These are key positions that require a voting process involving the entire Senate. A few weeks ago, Kash Patel was confirmed as the new FBI director. Now, Trump’s pick to head the DOJ antitrust office has also been confirmed, and she is now in charge of ongoing and upcoming cases in the US against big tech companies.
Gail Slater, the new DOJ antitrust head, will take over antitrust cases against big tech companies
Gail Slater, a lawyer with extensive experience in antitrust matters, was Trump’s pick for the new DOJ antitrust chief. She received bipartisan support as Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division. Slater had already worked with Trump’s cabinet during his first term. She had held the position at the National Economic Council. Additionally, she served as an economic policy advisor and Senate staff member for JD Vance—US vice president—before the last election.
Slater will bear a heavy burden of responsibility following the DOJ’s active role in recent years. In 2024, the agency won an antitrust case against Google, obtaining a ruling that labeled the Mountain View giant’s search engine business a monopoly. Although the ruling is already available, potential remedies are now under discussion. Recently, the DOJ presented its revised proposed remedies to resolve Google’s antitrust situation. However, a hearing in April will allow both sides to debate the matter. Google also confirmed that it plans to appeal the antitrust ruling.
The new DOJ antitrust head had joined the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) in 2024 to work on merger cases. She also pushed for the passage of antitrust legislation during her tenure at Roku. Slater did not offer more specific details about the DOJ’s strategy under her leadership.
However, she is expected to maintain a similar approach to that of Jonathan Kanter, the former DOJ antitrust chief. That is, to keep a watchful eye on moves by big tech companies that could compromise free competition. In fact, it was Trump himself who started this trend during his first term. The Biden administration subsequently continued along the same lines.
That said, Slater said that “resources are, of course, a very important consideration” for initiating new cases. However, she affirmed that she would advocate for the division to receive adequate resources to work.
