Antitrust officials in Washington and advocates across the political world are asking whether Kamala Harris is fully committed to President Joe Biden’s campaign against big business in America.
Antitrust, an issue usually put on the back burner in national politics, has become one of the White House’s most important legacy issues and is becoming increasingly urgent as Biden’s top corporate regulator launches major new lawsuits over insulin prices, financial services and leasing costs. .
In addition to existing lawsuits against Apple, Meta, Google, Amazon, Ticketmaster, and others, the next president will be positioned to strengthen or halt the historic push for corporate growth.
Josh Tzuker, a former Justice Department antitrust official who joined consulting firm FGS Global earlier this year, said what Harris chooses if she wins is “very important.” “The Biden administration has presented a path that is truly difficult to change.”
Harris has rarely spoken explicitly about antitrust, but the signals she has sent so far have been encouraging to some antitrust advocates.
As part of the economic policy plan Harris announced last week, she is supporting several competing moves by the Biden administration. She called for price fixing by landlords. This is an issue the Justice Department is addressing in its lawsuit against the software company. She also attacked grocery mergers pending the Federal Trade Commission’s decision on a lawsuit seeking to block a massive deal between Kroger and Albertsons.
But notably, she said little about Big Tech, a key focus of Biden’s top antitrust officials, the FTC’s Lina Khan and the DOJ’s Jonathan Kanter.
Some Harris critics on the left have criticized her advisers’ ties to big companies, including her brother-in-law Tony West, Uber’s chief lawyer, and Karen Dunn, a corporate lawyer who is currently leading Google’s defense in antitrust cases. are concerned about example.
This, along with Harris’ silence on calls from major donors like LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman to fire Khan as FTC chairman, has unnerved some antitrust advocates.
A Harris campaign spokeswoman did not respond for comment.
The next president officially inherits all affairs of the executive branch. But it will be up to the White House to decide how hard to push the tied antitrust agencies. The movement’s momentum could be jeopardized not only if former President Donald Trump wins and moderates corporate growth, but also if Harris wins and takes office without the same enthusiasm as her predecessor.
Barry Lynn, a longtime antitrust advocate, said he saw two strong antitrust signals from this summer’s Democratic National Convention. One was a speech by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who progressives have long felt was the friendliest to big business among Biden administration officials. In her convention speech, she called out “monopolies that crush small businesses, workers, and startups.”
Another sign was the prominent presence of populist antitrust hawk Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) the night Harris accepted the nomination.
The Biden administration’s focus on economic competition has proven popular with voters and has even begun to ripple through popular culture. A key figure in this effort, FTC Chair Lina Khan, appeared on The Daily Show to a passionate audience. A poll commissioned by The Guardian found Harris’s proposal to ban price gouging is the most popular economic policy supported by herself or the Trump campaign.
Additionally, there are several advisors whose presence in Harris’ orbit indicates she is likely to stay the course. They include former Biden National Economic Council director Brian Deese, who is advising Harris on economic policy; And Bharat Ramamurti was previously Deese’s deputy at the NEC and an alumnus of Warren’s office. Last month, NEC head of competition policy Rachel Brown also left her position to join the Harris campaign, sources said.
Biden administration officials pointed out that if Harris tries to show significant differences from Biden on economic policy, those people will likely not participate in the campaign. “The gang is back together,” the official said.
Tim Wu, a Columbia Law School professor who led competition policy on Biden’s National Economic Council, said of Harris: “I don’t think we can have the final word on this, but this is a hugely popular antitrust program.” “It is broadly consistent with,” he said. ‘The antitrust plan only goes so far. “Obviously whoever she appoints will be where the rubber band meets the road, but the broad subject matter suggests no real break.”
A “plethora” of antitrust lawsuits is a hallmark of every presidential transition, but especially in this one, where Joe Biden’s aggressive approach to competition policy has given regulators the power to bring a historic series of high-profile lawsuits against powerful companies. This is especially serious.
The FTC and the Justice Department have been virtually shepherding antitrust cases to the courts in recent months, and more cases are expected to come before January 20. Because these cases take years to resolve, it is difficult for a successor to change course dramatically.
