U.S. Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter and Attorney General Merrick Garland (left) announce the antitrust lawsuit against Apple at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., on March 21, 2024. Speaking at a press conference.
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U.S. Justice Department antitrust chief Jonathan Kanter said on Tuesday he would resign on Friday, ending a three-year term as he aims to reinvigorate U.S. competition law
Kanter and his counterpart at the Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan, have drawn praise from Democrats and some Republicans for their efforts to revive U.S. antitrust enforcement to curb corporate power.
“Plutocratic rule is itself a dictatorship,” Kanter said in his farewell speech on Tuesday. “When corporations that are larger and more powerful than most governments in the world threaten individual freedoms through coercive private taxation and regulation, our way of life is threatened,” he said.
Some lawyers and business groups have criticized Khan and Kanter’s agenda and support a return to the more limited antitrust view that has prevailed for four decades.
But President-elect Donald Trump’s antitrust options are seen as unlikely to significantly reduce enforcement.
Gail Slater, an aide to incoming Vice President J.D. Vance, is poised to replace Kanter if she is confirmed. Before being named Trump’s running mate, Vance praised Khan’s efforts and said corporations could engage in “authoritarian” behavior.
Kanter’s deputy, Doha Maki, will lead the antitrust division at least until Trump takes office. After that, Trump can name another acting head of the department.
Kanter has put the Justice Department’s antitrust division into high gear, targeting apple, alphabetical Google, Ticketmaster and visaand won a groundbreaking legal victory against Google in a lawsuit it filed during the first Trump administration over its dominance of online search.
The Justice Department under Kanter also sued and successfully blocked the connection. JetBlue Airways and AmericanJetBlue Airways plans to merge with Spirit Airlines for $3.8 billion, and Penguin Random House, the world’s largest book publisher, and rival Simon & Schuster Inc. are merging for $2.2 billion.
In his speech, Kanter warned that the Justice Department’s antitrust work would face an existential threat if it was unable to fully fund its merger filing fees.
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