Trump Weighs Appointing Michael Murray to Lead Antitrust at DOJ

The White House is considering nominating attorney Michael Murray, who worked in the previous Trump administration, to lead antitrust enforcement at the US Justice Department, according to people familiar with the plans.

Murray, a partner at law firm Paul Hastings LLC, previously served as a deputy assistant attorney general for antitrust from 2018 to 2020. Before that, he was a staffer for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. If nominated by the White House, Murray would replace Gail Slater, who was ousted in February after less than a year as antitrust chief amid disagreements over merger policy.

No final decision has been made for DOJ’s top antitrust job. It’s currently held by Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed Assefi, who is planning to leave when a replacement is confirmed, according to one of the people, who asked to remain anonymous while discussing a confidential process.

The timing of Murray’s nomination is likely contingent on the White House officially nominating a new attorney general, according to some of the people. President Donald Trump fired his first attorney general, Pam Bondi, earlier this month. Todd Blanche is currently acting head of the DOJ.

The White House and the Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Murray declined to comment.

During the first Trump administration, Murray argued the Justice Department’s appeal of its unsuccessful block of AT&T Inc.’s acquisition of Time Warner – assets that are once again up for sale as Paramount Skydance Corp. seeks to buy Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.

In 2025, Murray helped shepherd more than $65 billion of transactions through antitrust reviews, according to his law firm, including American Express Global Business Travel Group Inc.’s acquisition of rival CWT Holdings – a deal challenged by the Biden DOJ that was subsequently dropped by Trump officials. He also represented semiconductor company Groq in a $20 billion deal in which Nvidia Corp. purchased a non-exclusive license to the company’s technology and hired most of its employees.

“He’s a perfect candidate for this job,” said Andrew Finch, who served as acting antitrust chief at the beginning of Trump’s first term before becoming the No. 2 official. “He understands how the DOJ works, how the division works. I expect him to be very much in favor of a predictable business climate.”

If confirmed by the Senate, Murray would take over a part of the agency facing a personnel shortage after the exodus of many senior staff. Since the beginning of the year, many of the Justice Department’s top antitrust litigators have departed as the Trump administration transitioned toward accepting settlements in most cases. The heads of all seven of the agency’s civil antitrust units have also departed.

After filing a merger challenge in the first days of the new administration, the Justice Department has yet to challenge another deal. It has sued two hospital systems — one in New York and one in Ohio — for allegedly forcing insurers into overly restrictive contracts.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Josh Sisco in San Francisco at jsisco6@bloomberg.net;
Leah Nylen in Washington at lnylen2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net;
Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net

Steve Stroth, Elizabeth Wasserman

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