The U.S. Senate has confirmed Gail Slater, President Donald Trump’s nominee, to lead the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) antitrust division. A veteran antitrust attorney and former adviser to Vice President JD Vance, Slater will focus on protecting consumers by scrutinizing major industries like healthcare, technology, and agriculture.
Slater’s nomination has drawn bipartisan support from former antitrust officials and policy groups across the political spectrum. Conservative organization Heritage Action and progressive group Tech Oversight Project both backed her confirmation, signaling a shared demand for stronger corporate accountability.
"President Trump is continuing his push to rein in trillion-dollar Big Tech monopolists," said Mike Davis, former counsel to Senator Chuck Grassley. The DOJ is set to take Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google to trial in April, seeking to force the company to divest its Chrome browser. The department is also pursuing antitrust cases against Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), LiveNation, and Visa (NYSE:V).
Slater has emphasized that while she expects more merger settlements under the Trump administration, her approach will align with past enforcers in safeguarding competition and protecting workers. At her February hearing, Democrats pressed her on whether she would take unethical actions under Trump’s directive. She assured lawmakers, "If confirmed, I will always follow the law and uphold the Constitution."
With Slater at the helm, the DOJ’s antitrust division is poised to intensify its crackdown on monopolistic practices, continuing bipartisan efforts to promote fair competition.