President-elect Donald Trump has assembled a shortlist of candidates to interchange Lina Khan as chair of the Federal Commerce Fee – together with prime JD Vance aide Gail Slater and present FTC commissioner Andrew Ferguson, sources acquainted with the matter instructed The Put up.
Khan — whose aggressive enforcement ways on antitrust have roiled the enterprise neighborhood, regardless of drawing occasional reward from some Republicans together with Vance — is predicted to depart the highly effective company after Trump’s inauguration in January.
Her time period formally expired in September.
Slater, who has been advising the Trump transition crew on tech and antitrust coverage and who has suggested Vance on financial coverage, is herself a number one candidate for FTC chair, sources stated.
The Oxford-educated lawyer served as a particular assistant to Trump throughout his first White Home time period and did stints at Fox Corp. and Roku.
“My gut is that it’s Gail,” one supply acquainted with the scenario stated. “She’s at the center of this. She’s a Vance person but acceptable to the business community.”
Others are pointing to Ferguson.
The previous chief counsel to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who’s already a sitting commissioner, might be appointed as performing chair following Khan’s exit – and a few DC insiders imagine that provides him a leg up on Slater.
“Ferguson is someone who has served in a big role at FTC, he clerked for Clarence Thomas, he confirmed a bunch of judges for Donald Trump when he worked in the Senate,” one Republican insider stated.
Nonetheless, Ferguson’s ties to McConnell — who has famously butted heads with Trump throughout his years as Senate majority chief — may damage his possibilities.
The GOP is at the moment divided into two camps – one which prefers a extra conventional business-friendly method to enforcement and the opposite that desires a crackdown on Huge Tech and different monopolistic firms.
Vance is considered one of a handful of conservatives who praised Khan’s aggressive enforcement stance on the FTC. He has additionally publicly referred to as for Google to be damaged up.
In the meantime, Elon Musk, a Trump megadonor who performed a important position in boosting his marketing campaign and is slated to go up a “department of government efficiency” for his administration, was among the many enterprise leaders who has criticized Khan.
Different attainable contenders to guide the FTC Melissa Holyoak, the opposite present siting Republican FTC commissioner.
Like Ferguson, she may function performing boss till a everlasting choose is confirmed.
Mark Meador, a highly-regarded lawyer who beforehand held gigs with the FTC and the DOJ’s antitrust unit, can also be a chance, in accordance with sources.
At present in personal apply, Meador additionally served as an antitrust coverage adviser for Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).
“Meador is good and in the mix,” one other supply with information of the scenario stated.
Alex Okuliar, a former senior DOJ antitrust lawyer who was concerned within the investigation into Google throughout Trump’s first time period in workplace, can also be on the quick record.
He’s at the moment a accomplice on the white-shoe legislation agency Morrison Foerster.
Khan’s eventual substitute will helm in company with a number of main pending lawsuits, together with instances in opposition to Amazon and Meta.
Earlier this week, a choose dominated that the FTC’s case in search of a breakup of Meta over its acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram can proceed to trial.
The Trump administration is predicted to stay robust towards Huge Tech corporations, which Vance and others have repeatedly referred to as to be damaged up.
Nonetheless, Trump appointees are more likely to take a softer method towards mergers and acquisitions than Khan — who fought to dam offers together with Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard.
Any of the above candidates additionally might be tapped to function DOJ antitrust chief – the place at the moment held by Biden appointee Jonathan Kanter — because the Trump administration works out its antitrust coverage, in accordance with sources.
“President-Elect Trump is making decisions on who will serve in his second Administration,” Trump transition crew spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt stated in a press release. “Those decisions will be announced when they are made.”
Requests for remark to every of the candidates went unreturned or declined.
