Gail Slater, who ran the antitrust division for the Justice Department for nearly a year, was fired by the Trump administration this week, two people familiar with the matter told CNN.
Slater, who suggested in a post on X Thursday she was leaving on her own, had been repeatedly at odds with Attorney General Pam Bondi and the West Wing for months, the sources said. Her removal as the antitrust chief was viewed as a long time coming, and it remains to be seen who fills her role on a permanent basis.
Bondi issued tepid praise of Slater in a statement Thursday.
“On behalf of the Department of Justice, we thank Gail Slater for her service to the Antitrust Division which works to protect consumers, promote affordability, and expand economic opportunity,” the attorney general said.
The friction between Slater and President Donald Trump’s White House had been clear for months. In December, Trump issued a “full and unconditional pardon” for Oak View Group co-founder Tim Leiweke, who was indicted by his own Justice Department — in a case led by Slater — earlier in 2025.
“As outlined in the indictment, the Defendant rigged a bidding process to benefit his own company and deprived a public university and taxpayers of the benefits of competitive bidding,” Slater said in a statement at the time.
Slater said in her Thursday post on X: “It is with great sadness and abiding hope that I leave my role as AAG for Antitrust today. It was indeed the honor of a lifetime to serve in this role.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
