MAGA Base And Democrats Alike Upset At Top DOJ Resignation. Is ‘America First’ Losing?

(Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

Gail Slater, the assistant attorney general for antitrust, widely seen as the star of “MAGA antitrust” and “America First,” abruptly departed the Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) Thursday. She did not explain why.

Sources told the Daily Caller that Slater’s relationship with Attorney General (AG) Pam Bondi and her Deputy, Todd Blanche, had recently crumbled. Slater allegedly took an unauthorized trip to Paris, lied to Bondi about a merger case between Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Juniper Networks, and was suspected of leaking to Semafor about tensions within her antitrust division. According to a Caller source, Slater was given an ultimatum earlier this week: resign or be fired. (RELATED: She Was MAGA’s Antitrust Star — Then Her Relationship With Pam Bondi Imploded)

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. Huge thanks to all who supported me this past year, most especially the men and women of @justiceatr — Gail Slater (@gailaslater) February 12, 2026

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. Huge thanks to all who supported me this past year, most especially the men and women of @justiceatr

— Gail Slater (@gailaslater) February 12, 2026

Anti-corporate Democrats and MAGA stalwarts alike were upset by the news. Slater was seen on the right as one of the few top DOJ officials who wanted to use antitrust laws to rein in the power of large corporations. She cruised through her confirmation process in March, earning the support of many Democratic senators in a 78-19 vote.

For a senator such as Elizabeth Warren, Slater was never going to be as tough a regulator as the Biden administration’s Lina Khan. But she also wouldn’t just roll for corporate America like a harmless puppy. For an anti-corporate Democrat like Warren, it was the best possible pick. On the other hand, for the America First populists such as Republican Senator Josh Hawley, or the Chuck Grassley’s of Senate who aren’t exactly populists but still believe in strong antitrust enforcement, it was a dream come true.

After Slater’s resignation, Warren released a harsh statement, as expected.

“Americans’ top concern is affordability, but one of Trump’s few bipartisan-supported nominees — the top law enforcement official responsible for stopping illegal monopolies and protecting American consumers — was just ousted. Why? It looks like corruption. A small army of MAGA-aligned lawyers and lobbyists have been trying to sell off merger approvals that will increase prices and harm innovation to the highest bidder,” she said.

Grassley chimed in, as well.

“Gail Slater did an outstanding job & carried out our antitrust laws especially looking into competition issues important to rural America I’m sorry to see her leave the Dept of Justice,” he wrote on X.

Gail Slater did an outstanding job & carried out our antitrust laws especially looking into competition issues important to rural America I’m sorry to see her leave the Dept of Justice — Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) February 12, 2026

Gail Slater did an outstanding job & carried out our antitrust laws especially looking into competition issues important to rural America I’m sorry to see her leave the Dept of Justice

— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) February 12, 2026

However, before Slater’s blowup with Bondi and her subsequent resignation, the MAGA antitrust of Trump 2.0 was already virtually dead.

Slater had her first major challenge in April 2025 over a merger between Discover and Capital One. Although her staffers thought there could have been a decent case made against the merger, Slater reportedly allowed the deal to go through. 

Similarly, in August 2025, the DOJ settled with UnitedHealth Group over its $3.3 billion acquisition of Amedisys Inc., a home health and hospice care provider. The Biden DOJ had previously sued in November 2024, alleging that the deal would “harm patients who receive home health and hospice services, insurers who contract for home health services, and nurses who provide home health and hospice services.”

In what might be her biggest failure as antitrust chief, in November 2025, Slater attempted to spin the government’s settlement with RealPage, a software company that allegedly price-gouged renters and seemingly engaged in an illegal price fixing scheme, as a massive win for Americans. The settlement, however, was a slap on the wrist, as critics pointed out. (RELATED: Landlord Cartels Quietly Get The Greenlight To Keep Your Rent Sky High)

Yet, it also didn’t help Slater’s cause that corporate lobbyists were swarming around the Trump administration’s DOJ. Roger Alford, Slater’s number two who was fired in July 2025 due to disputes over the Hewlett Packard Enterprise/Juniper Networks merger, took a flamethrower to the “MAGA-In-Name-Only” lobbyists. He also called out Mike Davis, a corporate lobbyist and influencer, who reportedly bragged about recommending Slater’s firing in a private Signal group chat.

NEW: With Gail Slater gone as antitrust chief at the Department of Justice, some in MAGA who sparred w/ her are taking their victory lap. Here’s attorney Mike Davis, in a private Signal chat with others in Washington. Read more in @TheFP about her ouster, how it went down, and… pic.twitter.com/1NGVNyedv0 — Gabe Kaminsky (@gekaminsky) February 12, 2026

NEW: With Gail Slater gone as antitrust chief at the Department of Justice, some in MAGA who sparred w/ her are taking their victory lap. Here’s attorney Mike Davis, in a private Signal chat with others in Washington.

Read more in @TheFP about her ouster, how it went down, and… pic.twitter.com/1NGVNyedv0

— Gabe Kaminsky (@gekaminsky) February 12, 2026

“The MAGA-In-Name-Only lobbyists and DOJ officials enabling them are pursuing a different agenda. Their loyalty is not to the President’s antitrust agenda or to rebuild confidence and integrity in the DOJ … Their commitment is to exert and expand their influence and enrich themselves as long as their friends and supplicants are in power. If the rule of lobbyists prevails, the Republican vision of a realignment toward the average American will die,” Alford said in a speech in August 2025.

The cost to the country of this new pay-to-play approach to antitrust enforcement is enormous. For thirty pieces of silver, MAGA-In-Name-Only lobbyists are influencing their allies within the DOJ and risking President Trump’s populist conservative agenda. This goes far beyond traditional lobbying functions. Their goal is to line their own pockets by working for any corporation that will pay top dollar to settle antitrust cases on the cheap. Doing so undermines the rule of law and desperately harms the average American. At risk are President Trump’s antitrust goals of reforming health care, addressing monopoly abuses, promoting deregulation, and helping renters, farmers and blue-collar workers. Is this the new normal, with every law firm hiring an influence peddler to dual track and sidestep the litigation and merger review process? That’s what law firms are now considering. The Department of Justice is now overwhelmed with lobbyists with little antitrust expertise going above the Antitrust Division leadership seeking special favors with warm hugs. On numerous occasions in a variety of matters we implored our superiors and the lawyers on the other side to call off the jackals. But to no avail. Today cases are being resolved based on political connections, not the legal merits.

The cost to the country of this new pay-to-play approach to antitrust enforcement is enormous. For thirty pieces of silver, MAGA-In-Name-Only lobbyists are influencing their allies within the DOJ and risking President Trump’s populist conservative agenda. This goes far beyond traditional lobbying functions. Their goal is to line their own pockets by working for any corporation that will pay top dollar to settle antitrust cases on the cheap. Doing so undermines the rule of law and desperately harms the average American. At risk are President Trump’s antitrust goals of reforming health care, addressing monopoly abuses, promoting deregulation, and helping renters, farmers and blue-collar workers.

Is this the new normal, with every law firm hiring an influence peddler to dual track and sidestep the litigation and merger review process? That’s what law firms are now considering. The Department of Justice is now overwhelmed with lobbyists with little antitrust expertise going above the Antitrust Division leadership seeking special favors with warm hugs. On numerous occasions in a variety of matters we implored our superiors and the lawyers on the other side to call off the jackals. But to no avail. Today cases are being resolved based on political connections, not the legal merits.

Alford gets to the heart of the issue: most people in the Swamp, Republican or Democrat, don’t actually want to reform the system so it works for the American people. They want to profit off it. If there’s any diagnosis for why the America First, MAGA antitrust movement failed, it’s that the reformers weren’t prepared for a grubby political fight with the lobbyists. Maybe they were too naive and idealistic. The house always wins, and so does the Swamp.

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