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Obama-era Lawyer Eyed For DOJ Antitrust Division: Politico

By  |  March 26, 2021

President Biden’s team is reportedly vetting a lawyer who served as the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) general counsel under former President Obama for a top antitrust post.

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    According to Politico, which cited two sources familiar with the matter, Jonathan Sallet, who played a key role in formulating the FCC’s net neutrality rules, has been in talks for several weeks now for a top role to work on Biden’s competition policy.

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    One potential position Sallet could take on is leading the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, where Sallet served as deputy assistant attorney general for litigation from 2016 to 2017.

    Sallet as the DOJ’s top litigator helped block Halliburton’s $36 billion deal to purchase rival Baker Hughes, and also filed and won suits against Anthem-Cigna and Aetna-Humana mergers.

    Politico reported that Sallet could also be a possibility for permanent chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

    While Washington, D.C., Attorney General Karl Racine confirmed last week that he is being considered to head the FTC, which enforces antitrust and consumer protection laws, Biden has yet to make a formal announcement on the role.

    A top appointment of Sallet, who while at the FCC led the agency’s reviews of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, would signal a move by Biden to continue efforts at aggressively enforcing communications and consumer protection laws.

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