Sadly, it has become fashionable for politicians in both parties to demonize "big" business. Although capitalism has put supercomputers in our pockets, provided affordable chauffeurs (Uber) once only available to the extraordinarily wealthy, and a workforce increasingly freed from the physically demanding labor of the past in favor of new jobs tailored towards our talents or interests, a myth persists that the economic pie is finite and that the success of any big business must come at our expense. This belief presently threatens the legacy of economic achievement President Trump hopes to leave, which is why replacing Lina Khan at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) must be one of his 'Day One' priorities.
Our small businesses could not thrive on any level comparable to now without the big ones. The roaring stock market that President Trump touted during his first term as having created jobs and boosting 401Ks was in large part driven by companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon, and Facebook. Trump said it himself. But more importantly, Small businesses so often thrive due to their proximity to, or even their tangential relationships with, larger businesses. That’s why there are more restaurants in our major cities — where big businesses tend to congregate — than in rural Appalachia. Where big business goes, small business follows.
Which brings us to the concern for President Trump. The current head of the FTC, Lina Khan, has worked aggressively to block any merger arbitrarily deemed ‘too big.’ This included litigation against grocery chains Kroger and Albertsons for attempting to merge, as well as blocking a merger between Spirit Airlines and JetBlue. We can see the impact of her Chairmanship with the recent news Spirit Airlines declared bankruptcy - a direct result of her tenure for which consumers deserve an apology.
Combined with the DOJ, the Biden-Harris administration also delivered lawsuits to break up key players in our entertainment, finance, and technology space including Live Nation, Visa, and Google. Taken together, the Biden-Harris administration presented a hostile climate for America's industry leaders, which Kamala Harris doubled down on by making price controls a signature agenda item on the campaign trail. Senator Harris was then soundly defeated at the ballot box.
Even if one disregards the economic and political argument laid before, the way both agencies allegedly weaponized the media should give Trump all the reasons he needs to clean house. Senators Mitch McConnell and Tom Cotton, among others, recently penned a letter to the FTC and DOJ inspectors general, inquiring about a disturbing pattern of leaks that appears to have emerged from their respective offices. The letter noted:
“Since 2023, Bloomberg News has broken the news in at least twelve instances that DOJ or FTC was “preparing” or “poised” to take legal action before a lawsuit was filed. Indeed, the same journalist reported on eleven of these cases. This pattern strongly suggests that certain officials at DOJ and FTC are intentionally publicizing legal action days or weeks before filing. These leaks result in negative headlines about the administration’s targets while the targeted companies have no way to respond, as they haven’t yet seen the potential lawsuits. Both DOJ and FTC have ethics rules that prohibit leaking civil cases before the cases are filed.”
The lawsuits Bloomberg appears to have received advanced notice of included those to break up Visa, Google, and Live Nation - all of which had been made targets of progressive outside groups. The leaks suggest the Biden FTC and DOJ sought to chill or intimidate those they were preparing to litigate against, seeking a trial by media instead of in a court of law.
Microsoft recently echoed this concern in a letter to the Inspector General stating:
“On November 27, 2024, Bloomberg News reported that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had ‘opened an antitrust investigation’ of Microsoft…I ask you to investigate whether FTC management improperly leaked this confidential information to the press in violation of the agency’s ethics rules and rules of practice. Ironically, almost a week after telling the press about an information demand issued to Microsoft, we still cannot even obtain from the FTC a copy of this document.”
The letter further notes that the FTC itself has acknowledged that the volume of unauthorized disclosures of non-public information has been “steadily increasing” during Lina Khan’s tenure. If these allegations bear truth (as the pattern strongly suggests), these ‘Bloomberg Leaks’ are outright illegal.
Biden’s lawless FTC will continue business as usual in attacking our most successful companies unless President Trump makes a change. He should do so quickly - as his legacy may well depend on it. For Trump’s presidency to succeed, big business needs to succeed too.
