Gail Slater, the Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, announced her resignation on Thursday, marking the end of a challenging year during which her relationship with Attorney General Pam Bondi steadily declined.
While Slater did not provide reasons for her departure, she was initially seen as a key player in the MAGA antitrust agenda and Trump 2.0 economic policies. Some Trump supporters expressed their disappointment following her announcement. However, insiders indicated that the relationship between Bondi and Slater quickly soured.
Sources close to the situation revealed three primary causes behind Slater’s exit: an unauthorized trip to Paris, a misrepresentation regarding a contentious merger, and alleged leaks to the media concerning discord within the Justice Department’s antitrust division.
Slater reportedly faced a choice earlier this week—resign or face termination. Ultimately, Trump will have the final say on who gets confirmed by the Senate.
Many within the Justice Department felt that Slater’s strained rapport with Bondi was detrimental to ongoing cases. Administration officials stated that she disregarded Bondi’s directives and took an expensive European trip despite being advised against it.
In fact, two sources mentioned that Bondi’s credit card was suspended following Slater’s unauthorized Paris trip for a conference.
Another factor leading to her dismissal was her management of a merger between Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Juniper Networks last summer. Slater allegedly misled Bondi about consulting with intelligence agencies regarding the merger’s potential issues when she hadn’t done so, according to some insiders.
During this period, two of Slater’s senior advisors were let go over the handling of the HPE settlement, which was directly negotiated by Bondi’s office. Supporters of Slater contend that pro-Trump lobbyists favoring HPE played a role in both advancing the merger and contributing to her removal from Congress.
The final straw appeared to be suspicions that Slater leaked sensitive information to the media outlet Semaphore, particularly regarding internal conflicts within her department. Sources indicated that the West Wing’s belief in Slater’s role in leaking this information weighed heavily in the decision to let her go.
On Friday, Slater seemed to have dismissed her chief of staff at a separate company, but Bondi reportedly overruled that decision.
Since Slater’s confirmation in March 2025, relations between her and her superiors reportedly declined, and officials noted that her departure was less about her specific actions and more related to the ineffectiveness of the antitrust division and a need for improved agency performance.
One official commented, “This is a bureaucracy of 115,000 people, with over 10,000 lawyers. When the president has an agenda, we need to trust that it will be enacted, and that hasn’t occurred over the past year. Time is of the essence, and we can’t afford another year of indecisiveness.”
Another official remarked that Slater’s termination linked back to the president’s capacity to realize his policy goals.
According to Semaphore, mergers that faced scrutiny or investigation under Slater’s oversight primarily favored companies that had lobbied other officials within the administration.
Reports also suggested that Vice President J.D. Vance, who served as an economic advisor to Slater during his Senate term, did not extend her any support, being fully aware of the tense dynamics at the Justice Department but opting to remain uninvolved.
