The Scoop
The head of the US Justice Department’s antitrust division took action to cut loose a top lieutenant on Friday but was overruled by Attorney General Pam Bondi, the latest flashpoint in an escalating war inside the Trump administration’s competition agency.
Gail Slater declined to renew the expiring contract of her chief of staff, Sara Matar, before being told by Bondi that she didn’t have the authority to do so, people familiar with the matter said. Slater posted on X Friday that Matar’s “detail has concluded” and then later deleted the post. Matar’s detail has been extended, a person familiar with the matter said.
“The post was deleted because it is not accurate,” a DOJ spokesman said. Matar didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The power struggle inside the Trump administration between populist corporate skeptics and traditional Republican hands-off regulators is intensifying. Companies whose mergers have been challenged or investigated by Slater’s office have won favorable settlements by going around her to lobby Trump DOJ officials.
Step Back
The highest-profile antitrust case, involving HPE and Juniper, resulted in two of Slater’s deputies being pushed out. One of them, Roger Alford, has accused the DOJ of “pervert[ing] justice” in its handling of mergers, saying in a scathing speech in August that decisions are made “depending on whether the request or information comes from a MAGA friend.”
Slater, who came into the job with credibility from both MAGA circles and progressive groups, hasn’t reflexively sought to block deals, even those she acknowledged might harm competition. She dismissed a case brought by the Biden administration to block a corporate-travel merger, saying it wasn’t a good use of taxpayer money.
But she has faced heavy involvement by senior Trump officials and has received little public support from Vice President JD Vance, whom she worked for in the Senate and whose skepticism to corporate consolidation she broadly shares.