Gail Slater, antitrust chief at the US Department of Justice, announced on Thursday that she is leaving the agency less than one year into her turbulent tenure and three days after one of her top deputies unexpectedly resigned. Slater’s 11 months in office have been marked by upheaval, including the recent departure of top enforcer Mark Hamer and the firing of two other deputies in July 2025 — part of the fallout from the $14 billion merger between Hewlett Packard Enterprises and Juniper Networks.
Gail Slater, antitrust chief at the US Department of Justice, announced on Thursday that she is leaving the agency less than one year into her turbulent tenure and three days after one of her top deputies unexpectedly resigned.“It is with great sadness and abiding hope that I leave my role as AAG for Antitrust today. It was indeed the honor of a lifetime to serve in this role," she said in post on X from her personal account, @gailslater (see here). "Huge thanks to all who supported me this past year, most especially the men and women of @justiceatr.”
How Slater will be replaced is unclear. A White House representative referred questions to the DOJ, and a DOJ spokesperson referred a question on Slater's replacement to a statement from Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“On behalf of the Department of Justice, we thank Gail Slater for her service to the Antitrust Division which works to protect consumers, promote affordability, and expand economic opportunity,” Bondi said.
Slater’s 11 months in office have been marked by upheaval, including the recent departure of top enforcer Mark Hamer and the firing of two other deputies in July 2025 — part of the fallout from the $14 billion merger between Hewlett Packard Enterprises and Juniper Networks.
Mark Hamer, deputy assistant attorney general in charge of civil litigation, announced his departure this week. He gave short notice and ended his term less than a year after he was appointed to the job (see here).
Roger Alford, the former principal deputy assistant attorney general, and William Rinner, the deputy assistant attorney general in charge of mergers, were fired for opposing the clearance of the deal (see here). At the time, Alford publicly blamed his dismissal on improper influence from outside the Antitrust Division — specifically naming two of Bondi's lieutenants.
"Although I am limited in what I can say, it is my opinion that in the HPE/Juniper merger scandal, Chad Mizelle and Stanley Woodward perverted justice and acted inconsistent with the rule of law," said Alford said in August at a Colorado conference after he was fired (see here ). "I am not given to hyperbole, and I do not say that lightly."
Mizelle, who stepped down in late September, was the chief of staff to Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Woodward, counselor to Bondi, is now associate attorney general — the third-ranking official in the DOJ.
Alford also accused lawyers Mike Davis and Will Levi, as well as lobbyist Arthur Schwartz, of improper lobbying and influence-peddling that led to the approval of the HPE-Juniper merger.
“Good riddance!” Davis said on X in response to Slater's departure.
Alford, at the August appearance, discussed his view described Davis as coming into conflict with the professionals in the Antitrust Division.
"Mike Davis and Arthur Schwartz have made a Faustian bargain of trading on relationships with powerful people to reportedly earn million-dollar success fees by helping corporations undermine Trump’s antitrust agenda, hurt working class Americans, break the rules, and then try to cover it up," Alford said.
Alford warned about a “new pay-to-play approach” by lobbyists that is “so far removed from legitimate lobbying or traditional antitrust enforcement that it is creating massive legal and economic uncertainty," he said.
Beyond referring MLex to his post on X, Davis was not immediately available for comment on Thursday.
Davis has reportedly been in discussions with the DOJ to settle a monopolization lawsuit aimed at breaking up Ticketmaster and its parent, Live Nation. A five-week trial in the case is set to begin in March in a Manhattan federal court. Recently, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said the 40 US states and territories will proceed with the trial should the DOJ drop out (see here).
As a Senate-confirmed government official, the head of the Antitrust Division can only be fired by the US president. In her X post, Slater did not specify whether she quit or was fired.
Slater's tenure began on March 12, 2025. She becomes one of the first high-profile officials to depart since President Donald Trump reentered the White House in January 2025.
Before joining the administration, Slater was an economic policy advisor to then-US Senator JD Vance from Ohio.
During President Donald Trump’s first term, she was a special assistant to him and managed the technology, telco and cyber policy portfolios from February 2018 to May 2019. She was a senior aide on the National Economic Council.
Slater is from Dublin, Ireland and graduated from the Loreto Abbey in 1989. She speaks with a distinct Irish brogue. She earned her law degress from the University College Dublin and Oxford University. She also studied German law at Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg.
She worked in London and Brussels as an antitrust lawyer until her law firm, Freshfields, sent her to Washington, DC. From there, Slater went to the US Federal Trade Commission, where she spent ten years, seven of which were spent as a trial attorney on antitrust and mergers reviews in the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. She spent three years as an attorney advisor for former Democratic commissioner Julie Brill.
After the FTC, Slater became general counsel at the Internet Association, a now defunct US lobbying group based in Washington, DC that was once said to be Silicon Valley’s most important voice in Washington. Slater worked there from September 2014 to February 2018.
- With assistance from Claude Marx and Ilana Kowarski
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