DOJ Lawyer From Google Advertising Case Picked for FTC Job (1)

A leading trial attorney who helped file US antitrust lawsuits against Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Apple Inc. is set to be named the top competition lawyer at the Federal Trade Commission, according to people familiar with the plans.

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson has selected Justice Department antitrust attorney Daniel Guarnera to be director of the agency’s Bureau of Competition, according to the people, who asked not to be named discussing internal agency decisions. The Bureau of Competition is currently being helmed by Susan Musser in an acting capacity until Guarnera can move to the FTC.

Ferguson has also picked Chris Mufarrige, a chief of staff to one of the commissioners, to head the agency’s consumer protection efforts. He has already taken over as director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection in an acting capacity.

The appointments indicate the agency is likely to keep an aggressive enforcement stance, in particular against giant technology companies. The FTC has filed cases against Meta Platforms Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., and opened a probe into Microsoft Corp. The positions are key appointments as Ferguson fills out his leadership team, and will help him in assigning resources and making case recommendations.

Although selected by the chair, the posts require approval by the agency’s commissioners. Most often candidates are okayed on a bipartisan basis, though during the first Trump administration Democrats voted against the chair’s pick for consumer protection chief, citing potential conflicts of interest.

Daniel S. Guarnera

Source: Department of Justice

The FTC and Mufarrige declined to comment. Guarnera didn’t respond to a request for comment.

“Dan is an experienced and talented antitrust lawyer with excellent leadership skills,” said Jonathan Kanter, who helmed the antitrust division during the Biden administration.

Guarnera is chief of the civil conduct taskforce at the Justice Department’s antitrust division, the unit that helped helm major monopolization cases. He joined the agency in 2020, where he worked on the Justice Department’s investigation into Google and its alleged monopolization of the advertising technology market. Ferguson – then solicitor general of Virginia – was also involved in that investigation and suit, filed in 2023.

Before joining the agency, Guarnera worked at the law firm Kellogg Hansen and served as an aide to Republican Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley of Iowa during the confirmation hearing of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. He also clerked for Judge Diane Sykes of the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals, a George W. Bush appointee who has been considered by multiple Republican presidents for elevation to the Supreme Court.

Noah Phillips, a former Republican FTC commissioner during the first Trump administration who worked with Guarnera on Capitol Hill and when he was at DOJ, called him a “smart, savvy, thoughtful and delightful individual.”

Since last spring, Mufarrige has served as chief of staff to Republican FTC Commissioner Melissa Holyoak. During the first Trump administration, he worked at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Earlier in his career, he served at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

“I’ve long been impressed by Chris’s intellect, expertise in consumer protection, and commitment to public service,” said Eric Mogilnicki, former chief of staff to the late Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, adding that Mufarrige was a “brilliant choice” for the post.

(Updates with comment in last paragraph. An earlier version corrected Guarnera’s name spelling in 10th paragraph.)

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

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net

Elizabeth Wasserman

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