Gail Slater, who has led the Department of Justice’s antitrust division for the last 11 months, is stepping down.
She said she made the decision on her own, but multiple news outlets report that she was pushed out by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Her ousting could mark a turning point: She has been a vocal advocate against tech monopolies and reportedly butted heads with Attorney General Pam Bondi and other high-ranking members of the administration, particularly over Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s recent acquisition of Juniper Networks.
The Trump administration has generally indicated a more friendly attitude toward M&A than its predecessor, having greenlit several mega-deals. The DOJ approved Google-parent Alphabet’s $32 billion acquisition of Wiz late last year.
Slater will leave behind several active lawsuits, including a pair against Alphabet’s Google and Apple over allegedly anti-competitive practices.
During leadership transitions, regulatory probes can drag on for longer, according to Matt Adler, a partner at Baker Botts’ antitrust practice. “When there isn’t that direction from the top about where to prioritize, staff investigate everywhere, look under every rock,” he said.
But, Adler added, such reviews may be few and far between. “When you don’t have leadership at the top, it means that decisive actions are less likely: challenging fewer deals, fewer blocks.”
For VCs hungry for M&A activity, Slater’s exit will be welcome news. Under Slater, and her Biden-era predecessor, more Big Tech giants carried out “acqui-hire” deals in the race for AI talent to avoid antitrust scrutiny. Such deals have come with mixed reactions from VCs.
Still, M&A activity has been on a tear, with 2025 surpassing 2021 as the biggest year on record both globally and in North America, per PitchBook’s 2025 Global M&A report.
Omeed Assefi, Slater’s deputy, was named acting antitrust chief, according to CBS News.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Netflix’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros was approved by the Trump administration. The deal is still under review by the DOJ, among other parties. A line was added about the Wiz mega-deal. (Feb. 13, 2026)
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