Melissa Holyoak's already rocky bid to win a seat on the Federal Trade Commission could be further complicated by Donald Trump's landslide victory in Iowa, sources said on Wednesday. told The Money.
The former president's top advisers are adamantly opposed to any future Trump nominations and have already begun urging Republican lawmakers to consider Trump's policies for a second term, the people said.
President Trump is considering another major crackdown on Big Tech if he returns to the White House.
Meanwhile, Beltway officials say Utah's Republican attorney general, Holyoake, has been furious in recent months for his permissive attitude toward the field.
“Her record is deeply troubling for those who believe in accountability for big tech companies,” one Capitol Hill official said. “Many pro-Trump Republicans are understandably skeptical.”
Under the Trump administration, the FTC and the Justice Department's Antitrust Division launched investigations into Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple.
F.T.C. sued facebook Alleging anti-competitive conduct in 2020, the Department of Justice sued Google for illegally monopolizing search.
Since being banned from Twitter in 2021, Trump has become even more wary of tech companies, sources told On the Money.
Meanwhile, as The Post reported last month, newly discovered emails show Holyoak maintains a friendly relationship with the Big Tech-funded think tank Institute for Competitive Enterprise. , including one executive who wrote about the FTC that it was “too bad to burn.” that's OK. ”
Emails show that Holyoak exchanged legal advice on major cases, including the Apple v. Epic Games antitrust case, with an employee at the think tank where he worked as a lawyer for five years.
The email renewed concerns among critics, including the conservative group the Bull Moose Project, which had previously urged Senate Republicans to consider Holyoak's nomination over its ties to CEI.
“These new emails prove our skepticism was correct,” Aidan Buzzetti, president of the Bull Moose Project, said in a statement. “General Holyoak should clear the air on his own views on Big Tech and whether he supports FTC actions taken against them to protect American consumers.”
Holyoake previously defended her career in a statement, saying that as the state's attorney general, she has “held Big Tech accountable and led Utah's efforts in litigation against Google, Facebook, and most recently, TikTok.” ' he claimed.
Her critical role in negotiating a controversial $700 million settlement between Google and all 50 states also heightened concerns among Holyoak's critics.
Critics, including Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, said the terms were too lenient for the tech giant.
Both Holyoak and fellow FTC nominee Andrew Ferguson, a former aide to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, must be voted on and approved by the full Senate before they can be formally appointed.
There is no guarantee that Holyoak's nomination will be revoked, but this is not the first time a nomination has been held until a new president is elected.
In 2016, McConnell froze the nomination of former Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland in hopes of bringing in a more conservative justice.
McConnell's move gave conservatives a six-seat majority on the court.
