Lina Khan's controversial tenure as chair of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ended last week with President-elect Trump's victory, and a fall on the part of big tech companies, which have faced increased scrutiny under her leadership. It appears that the problem has come to an end with the removal of the large thorn.
But experts warn that the future of Big Tech is unclear, especially under second-term President Donald Trump, with populist tendencies and antitrust enforcement likely to remain at the forefront. did.
“Trump is a populist, and he is a populist in every sense of the word, including his antitrust policy,” Matthew Cantor, an antitrust attorney at Synder Cantor Lerner, told The Hill.
“There will be a continued push on antitrust issues, perhaps not pushing the envelope like Lina Khan, but antitrust enforcement will continue to be a priority.” added.
Mr. Khan led the Biden administration's aggressive antitrust push, blocking mergers it deemed anticompetitive and suing major companies for alleged anticompetitive conduct.
Her policies often draw the ire of the business community, and she has become a flash point among Democrats as well.
After Vice President Harris announced her bid for the White House in July, several major Democratic donors, including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and IAC Chairman Barry Diller, He strongly urged Mr. Khan to be removed from office if elected president.
In the heated race for FTC chair, progressive allies such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) have come to her defense. I jumped out. Last month, Ocasio-Cortez promised an “out and out brawl” if “anyone approaches Lina Khan.”
Mr. Khan's stronger approach to antitrust enforcement has been welcomed by some on the other side of the aisle, as parts of the Republican Party increasingly embrace populism.
In February, Vice President-elect Vance praised the FTC chairman's performance, saying he had done a “pretty good job.”
“A lot of my Republican colleagues are looking at Lina Khan… and they say, well, Lina Khan is kind of involved in some kind of fundamental evil. And I “I think Lina Khan is one of the few people in the Biden administration who I think is doing a pretty good job,” the Ohio Republican said in a Bloomberg forum.
Although Vance praises Khan, it seems unlikely that she will remain in the second Trump administration. Owen Tedford, senior research analyst at Beacon Policy Advisors, said there are limits to conservative support for the FTC chairman.
“I think there's a certain amount of recognition for her efforts to dominate the big tech world, but I think that's where the love ends,” Tedford told The Hill.
“Even if you become a more active candidate at the FTC or the Federal Trade Commission. [Department of Justice] It will probably be a traditional Republican administration, but it will still not be Lina Khan in Republican clothes. It will be a step back from there,” he added.
But certain sectors, such as technology and pharmaceuticals, are likely to remain top targets for antitrust enforcement under the Trump administration, Tedford said.
Big Tech companies have already come under intense scrutiny during the president-elect's first term in office. In 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Google for allegedly monopolizing online search, while the FTC sued Facebook for allegedly maintaining an illegal monopoly on social networking.
Under President Biden, the Justice Department continued its second antitrust case against Google, citing its role in the advertising technology market. He later sued Apple for monopolizing the smartphone market.
The FTC also sued Amazon during the Biden administration, accusing the e-commerce giant of engaging in anticompetitive practices to maintain its monopoly in online retail.
The Department of Justice won an important victory in the Google search case in August. A federal judge ruled at the time that the tech giants had a monopoly on online search that they had illegally maintained through a series of exclusive agreements.
Big Tech companies will likely continue to face increased scrutiny under the Trump administration, which may not take such a “draconian” approach to redressing these antitrust lawsuits, Tedford said. suggested.
“I think there will still be a desire on the part of Trump's regulators to win something from these lawsuits, but I don't think it will necessarily be structural and I don't think it will probably be as tough as it was under the Harris administration.” he said.
The Justice Department said in a filing last month that it is considering asking a judge to separate Google's search business from the rest of the company. Asked last month about the possibility of a breakup, Trump sounded skeptical.
“This is a very dangerous thing to do because we want great companies,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg. “We don't want China to have these companies. Right now China is afraid of Google.”
A shift to Republican administration is also likely to eliminate some of the headwinds in tech deals.
Wedbush Securities analysts said in an industry note last week that Khan's possible departure and the Trump administration's “significant reductions in the regulatory framework” could open the door to more consolidation in the industry. suggested.
“This nightmarish Khan period for the tech industry has put a lid on the flow of tech deals. Starting today, with Trump in the White House and a more business-friendly regulatory environment, We believe everything will change,” they wrote the day after the election.
Kanter similarly said he expected “a lot of agreement” over the next four years, pointing to lower interest rates and the assumption that the Trump administration will be more generous than the Biden administration.
“Certain mergers and transactions were curtailed during the Biden administration because the Biden administration was the most aggressive antitrust enforcer, at least in my lifetime,” he said.
But Kanter added that regarding the overall antitrust environment, “I don't think tech companies should jump up and celebrate.”
Several tech industry leaders made overtures to the president-elect in the final weeks of the campaign, clearly anticipating a second term for Trump.
Trump revealed last month that he received calls from Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, but CNN reports that Amazon's CEO Sundar Pichai called him. CEO Andy Jassy also reported that he has contacted Republican candidates.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also attempted to distance himself from politics in recent months, earning some praise from Trump after years of attacks.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, among others, have fully embraced the president-elect. Mr. Musk has donated millions of dollars to his pro-Trump super PAC and amplified Mr. Trump's message on his massive platform on X.
