Document Type

Article

Abstract

Early communications from the new Trump antitrust agencies seem unusually partisan. One can find multiple references to Make America Great Again and ushering in America’s Golden Age. Veteran observers’ instinct is that this is not business as usual. This essay checks that intuition against some facts. In particular, it examines press releases introducing officials and/ or referring to the White House, and the first ten speeches or other publications (as collected on agency websites) for current FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater, and a good number of their predecessors. The conclusion: yes, things are different. The typical U.S. antitrust agency head, whether FTC chair or AAG, traditionally positioned himself or herself as a relatively apolitical law enforcer. No longer. The change reflects something of a continuum, but Trump II agencies—especially the FTC—have taken overt partisanship to new heights.

Disciplines

Antitrust and Trade Regulation | Law

Comments

Deposited by permission of the publisher.

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