Senate Judiciary Eyes Early Oct. DOJ Antitrust-Pick Hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee is eyeing a confirmation hearing within the first two weeks of October for DOJ Antitrust Division chief nominee Jonathan Kanter, Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., told us. “I hope that happens. Now remember, it’s in the full committee, so I can’t control everything.”

Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told us in March he would defer to Klobuchar on antitrust issues generally (see 2103110058). His office didn’t comment last week. Klobuchar said to expect more follow-up hearings after Wednesday’s testimony from Facebook and Google (see 2109220003). Some say the potential recusal of Kanter in DOJ’s case against Google could draw committee attention during his confirmation (see 2107230062).

Nine former Antitrust Division chiefs from both parties supported Kanter’s confirmation, in a letter Thursday to Senate leaders and key Judiciary members. “He knows the substance of antitrust. He appreciates its importance to the American consumer,” they wrote. “He is a smart and articulate advocate. He respects his adversaries and inspires his colleagues and co-counsel.” Signees were Makan Delrahim, William Baer, Donald Baker, Sanford Litvack, Charles Rule, James Rill, Joel Klein, Thomas Barnett and Christine Varney.

The Senate Commerce Committee is awaiting White House paperwork and lining up interviews with FTC nominee Alvaro Bedoya (see 2109130060), Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us. “I know people have spoken highly of his expertise on some important issues,” she said, noting she hasn’t spent a lot of time exploring his background. Ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., also told us he hasn’t examined Bedoya’s record. Asked if she expects a confirmation timeline similar to that of FTC Chair Lina Khan, Cantwell didn’t comment. The White House announced the Khan pick in March (see 2103220056). She was confirmed in June (see 2106150068).

“We want to give the FTC more resources,” said Cantwell. “We think the FTC has a big job in an information age, both on privacy, digital security, obviously on other issues like antitrust.” Khan is “just getting her feet on the ground,” said Cantwell. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., noted Khan hasn’t had a lot of time on the job: “Let’s see what she does, but I don’t have a lot of complaints so far.”

FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra, awaiting confirmation to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (see 2109220037), is an “extremist” who would be placed in an “extreme position” if confirmed, said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. “From everything I can tell, he’s pretty much an activist, clearly an Elizabeth Warren protege,” he told us. “She likes him, and that’s a pretty serious problem. I was never a fan of the CFPB, especially the way it’s designed and its lack of accountability.” Warren, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, had pushed for CFPB's creation.

The Senate voted last Tuesday along party lines to set up a floor vote on the Chopra nomination. “I opposed him, as every Republican does,” Senate Banking Committee ranking member Pat Toomey, R-Pa., told us. “His record when he was at the CFPB [previously] was terrible, and I think it would resume if he’s the director.” Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., one of two Republicans who didn’t participate in the vote, told us he won’t support the nomination. The office for Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., the other absent Republican, didn’t comment. Chopra's office declined comment.

Chopra “will be a terrific director of the CFPB,” Warren told us. “Republicans are voting against him precisely because he will be a terrific director of the CFPB.” Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., agreed with Cramer about Chopra being an “activist.” But Moran said he appreciated Chopra’s open line of communication at the FTC, which he hoped would continue at the CFPB: “He was very open to visiting with me. But his agenda is not necessarily equal to my agenda.”

Bedoya’s nomination is “consistent with the Biden administration’s progressive bent, which, as evidenced by the recent confirmation of Lina Khan, the Senate seems willing to accommodate,” emailed ex-FTC Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen, now at Baker Botts. Ohlhausen will testify Wednesday at the Senate Commerce Committee’s hearing on privacy (see 2109240009).