Obama Hand-Picks Varney to Lead DOJ's Antitrust Division

On Jan. 23, just three days following his inauguration, President Barrack Obama ended months of speculation by nominating Christine A. Varney, a partner at Hogan & Harston, to head the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division, the federal agency primarily responsible for enforcing the antitrust laws of the United States through criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits. Of course, the Senate will first have to confirm Varney before she can begin her duties. Many in the antitrust community suspect that Varney’s mandate will be far greater than that of her more recent predecessors as the Obama administration has vowed to increase enforcement of the antitrust laws for the benefit of consumers. Further, it is widely believed that Varney’s prompt nomination is only the first step taken by the Obama administration to build the promised antitrust enforcement team charged with fulfilling the president’s mission of increasing antitrust enforcement and overall competition in the United States. In light of the Obama administration’s adamant position and strong statements with regard to antitrust law, as well as the nomination of Varney, companies — including international companies and particularly health care companies — must begin making the necessary preparations to succeed in a renewed era of heightened antitrust enforcement.

During his campaign trail to the White House, Obama made his views on antitrust enforcement well-known and signaled to the antitrust community that, if elected, his administration’s antitrust enforcement would be in stark contrast to that of the administration of President George W. Bush. In a statement made to the American Antitrust Institute, or AAI, Obama boldly vowed that he would direct his “administration to reinvigorate antitrust enforcement,” “step up review of merger activity,” “take aggressive action to curb the growth of international cartels” and “take effective action to stop or restructure those mergers that are likely to harm consumer welfare, while quickly clearing those that do not.” In addition, Obama criticized the antitrust enforcement policies of the Bush administration in his statement to the AAI: “the [Bush] administration has what may be the weakest record of antitrust enforcement of any administration in the last half century. Between 1996 and 2000, the FTC and DOJ together challenged on average more than 70 mergers per year and on the grounds that they would harm consumer welfare. In contrast, between 2001 and 2006, the FTC and DOJ on average only challenged 33. And in seven years, the Bush Justice Department has not brought a single monopolization case.”