Gail Slater, recently confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, is preparing to strengthen the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) antitrust division by recruiting experienced officials from previous administrations. According to Bloomberg, her selections signal a commitment to rigorous enforcement across industries including technology, healthcare, and finance.

Per Bloomberg, Slater has chosen Roger Alford, a Notre Dame University law professor and former DOJ official under President Trump, as her principal deputy. Alford previously served as a liaison to international antitrust regulators and will be positioned to take the lead in cases where Slater may be recused.

Slater’s additional hires include Mark Hamer, a partner at Baker & McKenzie, and William Rinner of Apollo Global Management, who will co-head civil antitrust enforcement. Omeed Assefi, the DOJ’s acting antitrust chief for the past two months, will oversee criminal enforcement, while Chetan Sanghvi, a senior managing director at consultancy NERA, will lead the division’s economic analysis, Bloomberg reported.

These appointments suggest Slater values both aggressive enforcement and significant defense-side experience. Her predecessor, Jonathan Kanter, was known for his hardline stance against mergers and reluctance to settle cases. By contrast, Slater has indicated that well-structured settlements—where companies divest assets or modify business practices—can serve as effective regulatory tools if implemented correctly.

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Slater was confirmed in a bipartisan 78-19 Senate vote and inherits a packed litigation docket. Among the DOJ’s most high-profile cases is the ongoing effort to restructure Alphabet Inc.’s Google after a federal judge ruled last year that the company had illegally monopolized the online search market. According to Bloomberg, the DOJ is seeking to force Google to sell its Chrome browser and prevent it from securing preferred placements on mobile devices. Other major cases under Slater’s watch include lawsuits against Apple Inc., Visa Inc., and Live Nation Inc.

Alford, one of Slater’s top deputies, previously consulted for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in an antitrust lawsuit against Google’s advertising technology business. Meanwhile, the DOJ wrapped up trial proceedings in its own ad-tech case against Google last year and is awaiting a ruling, with a separate state-led trial set for this summer.

Bloomberg also reported that Rinner previously served as chief of staff to Makan Delrahim, the DOJ’s antitrust head in the early Trump administration, while Hamer was a DOJ staff attorney from 2010 to 2016, working on key cases including the department’s antitrust suit against American Express Co. Sanghvi, who has had multiple stints at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), worked alongside Slater under former Democratic Commissioner Julie Brill and played a key role in the FTC’s antitrust challenge to Whole Foods’ acquisition of Wild Oats.

Slater’s selections indicate a strategic approach to enforcement, blending expertise from both regulatory and corporate backgrounds.

Source: Bloomberg