View source for Department of Justice Antitrust Division

{{Short description|The US federal legal system's main criminal anti-monopoly arm}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2019}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox government agency
| agency_name     = United States Department of Justice<br/>Antitrust Division
| type            = Division
| seal            = File:Seal_of_the_United_States_Department_of_Justice.svg
| seal_width      = 160px
| seal_caption    = Seal of the United States Department of Justice
| formed          = {{Start date and age|1919}}
| jurisdiction    = [[Federal government of the United States]]
| headquarters    = [[Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building]]<br/>950 [[Pennsylvania Avenue (Washington, D.C.)|Pennsylvania Avenue]] [[Northwest, Washington, D.C.|NW]]<br/>[[Washington, D.C.]], United States
| chief1_name     = [[Jonathan Kanter]]
| chief1_position = Assistant Attorney General
| parent_department = [[United States Department of Justice|U.S. Department of Justice]]
| website         = {{url|https://www.justice.gov/atr|Official website}}
}}
{{Competition law}}

The '''United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division''' is a division of the [[United States Department of Justice|U.S. Department of Justice]] that enforces [[United States antitrust law|U.S. antitrust law]]. It has exclusive jurisdiction over U.S. federal [[Criminal_law_of_the_United_States|criminal]] antitrust investigations and prosecutions. It also has jurisdiction over civil antitrust enforcement, which it shares with the [[Federal Trade Commission]] (FTC). The Antitrust Division often works jointly with the FTC to provide regulatory guidance to businesses. 

The Division is headed by an Assistant Attorney General, who is appointed by the [[President of the United States]] with and by the [[advice and consent]] of the [[United States Senate|Senate]], and reports to the [[United States Associate Attorney General|Associate Attorney General]]. The current Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division is [[Jonathan Kanter]], who was sworn into office November 16, 2021.<ref name="Confirmation">{{Cite news |date=2021-11-17|title=U.S. Senate confirms Google critic Kanter to head Justice Dept Antitrust Division |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-confirms-google-critic-kanter-head-justice-dept-antitrust-division-2021-11-16/ |access-date=2021-11-17 |website=Reuters |language=en-US}}</ref>

==History==
On February 25, 1903, Congress earmarked $500,000 for antitrust enforcement. On March 3, 1903, Congress created the position of Antitrust AG, with a salary to be paid out of the funds earmarked for antitrust enforcement. The 1904 DOJ ''Register'' identified two professional staffers responsible for enforcement of antitrust laws, but the Division was not formally established until 1919.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} 

Attorney General [[A. Mitchell Palmer]] “effected the first important reorganization" of DOJ since it was first established in 1870. Palmer organized DOJ into divisions, and placed the AtAG “in charge of the Anti-Trust Division.” Palmer's annual report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1919 contained the first public statement that DOJ had a component called the "Antitrust Division."<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/lawreview/vol92/iss3/2/ |last=Werden |first=Gregory J. |title=Establishment of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice |journal=St. John's Law Review |volume=98 |issue=3 |date=Fall 2018 |pages=419–430}}</ref>

=== 2013 closure of field offices ===
The closure of four of the Antitrust Division's criminal antitrust offices in January 2013 generated significant controversy within the Division and among members of Congress.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lipman |first=Melissa |date=2023-01-15 |title=DOJ's Antitrust Plans Unclear Amid Looming Office Closures |website=Law360 |url=https://www.law360.com/articles/406994/doj-s-antitrust-plans-unclear-amid-looming-office-closures |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130405232003/http://www.law360.com/articles/406994/doj-s-antitrust-plans-unclear-amid-looming-office-closures |archive-date=2013-04-05 |access-date=2017-01-28 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lipman |first=Melissa |date=2012-05-02 |title=Kohl Urges DOJ To Reconsider Antitrust Office Closings |website=Law360 |url=https://www.law360.com/articles/336430?scroll=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202063032/https://www.law360.com/articles/336430?scroll=1 |archive-date=2017-02-02 |access-date=2017-01-28 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lipman |first=Melissa |title=DOJ Faces Mounting Flak Over Plan To Close Antitrust Offices |website=Law360 |url=https://www.law360.com/articles/312416?scroll=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202061721/https://www.law360.com/articles/312416?scroll=1 |archive-date=2017-02-02 |access-date=2017-01-28 |language=en}}</ref>  The Attorney General posited that the closure of these offices will save money and not negatively affect criminal enforcement.  

A significant number of career prosecutors have voiced contrary opinions, noting that the elimination of half of the Division's criminal enforcement offices will increase travel expenses and diminish the likelihood of uncovering local or regional conspiracies.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}

Like mob activity in Topeka KS

== Leadership ==
[[File:William Joseph Donovan cph.3b17495.jpg|150px|thumb|First Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust [[William J. Donovan]]]]
[[File:Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General 2.jpg|thumb|Current Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust [[Jonathan Kanter]]]]

The head of the Antitrust Division is the Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust (AAG-AT) appointed by the [[President of the United States]]. [[Jonathan Kanter]] was confirmed as Assistant Attorney General on November 16, 2021.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.justice.gov/atr/staff-profile/meet-assistant-attorney-general | title=Meet the Assistant Attorney General |website=Department of Justice | date=November 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128100709/https://www.justice.gov/atr/staff-profile/meet-assistant-attorney-general |archive-date=2021-11-28}}</ref>

The Assistant Attorney General is assisted by six Deputy Assistant Attorneys General (DAAG) who each oversee a different branch of the Division. One of the DAAGs holds the position of "Principal Deputy," that is "first among equals," and "will typically assume the powers of the Assistant Attorney General in the Assistant Attorney General's absence."<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.justice.gov/atr/file/761166/download|title=Antitrust Division Manual |edition=5th |date=April 2015 |publisher=U.S. Department of Justice |pages=I–4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412183427/https://www.justice.gov/atr/file/761166/download |archive-date=2021-04-12}}</ref>

=== Front Office and Operations===

{{as of |2015|6|25|df=US}}, the division consists of these sections and offices:<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-06-25|title=Sections And Offices|url=https://www.justice.gov/atr/sections-and-offices|access-date=2021-05-24|website=www.justice.gov|language=en}}</ref>

==== Office of the Assistant Attorney General ====
* Assistant Attorney General
* Deputy Assistant Attorneys General
* Chief of Staff and Senior Advisors
* Directors of Enforcement
* Office of the Chief Legal Advisor

==== Office of Operations ====

=== Civil Sections ===
* Civil Conduct Task Force
*Defense, Industrials, and Aerospace Section
*Financial Services, Fintech, and Banking Section
* Healthcare and Consumer Products Section
* Media, Entertainment, and Communications Section
* Technology and Digital Platforms Section
* Transportation, Energy, and Agriculture Section

=== Criminal Sections and Offices ===
* Chicago Office
* New York Office
* Procurement Collusion Strike Force
* San Francisco Office
* Washington Criminal Section

=== Economic Sections ===
* Economic Analysis Group

=== Other Offices ===
* Appellate Section
* Competition Policy and Advocacy Section
* Executive Office
* International Section

===List of Assistant Attorneys General for the Antitrust Division===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Name !! Years of service !! Appointed by
|-
| [[William Joseph Donovan]] || 1926–1927 || Calvin Coolidge
|-
| [[John Lord O'Brian]] || 1929–1933 || [[Herbert Hoover]]
|-
| [[Robert H. Jackson]] || 1937–1938 || Franklin D. Roosevelt
|-
| [[Thurman Arnold]] || 1938–1943 || Franklin D. Roosevelt
|-
| [[Wendell Berge]] || 1943–1947 || Franklin D. Roosevelt
|-
| John F. Sonnett || 1947–1948 || Harry S. Truman
|-
| Herbert Bergson || 1948–1950 || Harry S. Truman
|-
| Leonard Bessman || 1950–1951 || Harry S. Truman
|-
| H. Graham Morison || 1951–1952 || Harry S. Truman
|-
| Newell A. Clapp || 1952–1953 || acting
|-
| Stanley Barnes || 1953–1956 || Eisenhower
|-
| Victor R. Hansen || 1956–1959 || Eisenhower
|-
| Robert A. Bicks || 1959–1961 || Eisenhower
|-
| [[Lee Loevinger]] || 1961–1963 || Kennedy
|-
| William Horsley Orrick, Jr. || 1963–1965 || Kennedy
|-
| [[Donald F. Turner]] || 1965–1968 || Lyndon Johnson
|-
| Edwin Zimmerman || 1968–1969 || Lyndon Johnson
|-
| [[Richard W. McLaren]] || 1969–1972 || Richard Nixon
|-
| Walker B. Comegys || 1972 || acting
|-
| Thomas E. Kauper || 1972–1976 || Richard Nixon
|-
| Donald I. Baker || 1976–1977 || Gerald R. Ford
|-
| [[John H. Shenefield]] || 1977–1979 || Jimmy Carter
|-
| Sanford Litvack || 1979–1981 || Jimmy Carter
|-
| William Baxter (law professor)|William Baxter || 1981–1983 || Ronald Reagan
|-
| J. Paul McGrath || 1983–1985 || Ronald Reagan
|-
| [[Douglas H. Ginsburg]] || 1985–1986 || Ronald Reagan
|-
| Charles Rule || 1986–1989 || Ronald Reagan
|-
| James F. Rill || 1989–1992 || George H.W. Bush
|-
| [[Charles James (attorney)|Charles James]] || 1992 || acting
|-
| J. Mark Gidley || 1992–1993 || acting
|-
| [[Anne Bingaman]] || 1993–1996 || Bill Clinton
|-
| [[Joel Klein]] || 1996–2000 || Bill Clinton
|-
| [[Douglas Melamed]] || 2000–2001 || acting
|-
| Charles James (attorney)|Charles James || 2001–2003 || George W. Bush
|-
| R. Hewitt Pate || 2003–2005 || George W. Bush
|-
| Thomas O. Barnett || 2005–2008 || George W. Bush
|-
| Deborah A. Garza || 2008–2009 || acting
|-
| [[Christine A. Varney]] || 2009–2011 || Barack Obama
|-
| Sharis Pozen || 2011–2012 || acting
|-
| Joseph F. Wayland || 2012 || acting
|-
| Renata Hesse || 2012–2013 || acting
|-
| [[William Baer (antitrust lawyer)|William Baer]] || 2013–2017 || Barack Obama
|-
| [[Makan Delrahim]] || 2017–2021 || Donald J. Trump
|-
|[[Jonathan Kanter]]
|2021–Present
|Joe Biden
|}

==See also==
*[[Competition Bureau (Canada)|Competition Bureau]] (Canadian counterpart)
*[[Competition policy]]
*[[Competition regulator]]
*[[Federal Trade Commission]]
*''[[United States v. Microsoft Corp.]]''

==References==
  {{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.justice.gov/atr/ Official homepage of the Antitrust Division]
* [https://www.justice.gov/atr/about-division About the Antitrust Division – Mission, History, Sections and Offices]

{{DOJ agencies}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Competition regulators]]
[[Category:United States Department of Justice agencies|Antitrust Division]]
[[Category:United States antitrust law]]
[[Category:Consumer organizations in the United States]]
[[Category:United States assistant attorneys general for the Antitrust Division| ]]
[[Category:Regulatory authorities of the United States|Antitrust]]