Trump taps telecom regulatory lawyer as DOJ antitrust head

The White House is preparing to nominate Adam Candeub, currently the General Counsel at the Federal Communications Commission, as the next head of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division. The pick would install a lawyer steeped in telecommunications regulation atop the unit responsible for some of the most consequential corporate enforcement actions in a generation.

Candeub would replace Gail Slater, who resigned from the role on February 12, 2026, after less than a year on the job. Omeed Assefi has been running the division on an acting basis since Slater’s departure.

A telecom insider with DOJ experience

Candeub is not new to the Trump orbit. During Trump’s first term, he served as Acting Assistant Secretary at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration from 2019 to 2021. He also held the title of Deputy Associate Attorney General at the DOJ during that same administration.

He moved into his current FCC general counsel role in February 2025. His background also includes contributions to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 report, which advocated for stricter oversight of online platforms.

The cases that matter

The DOJ Antitrust Division is currently overseeing ongoing enforcement actions against Google, Apple, and Visa. The Google case alone has been one of the most closely watched antitrust proceedings in decades. A federal judge already found that Google maintained an illegal monopoly in search, and the remedies phase of that case will shape the competitive landscape of the internet for years.

Apple faces its own DOJ scrutiny over how it manages its App Store ecosystem and device interoperability. Visa, meanwhile, is dealing with antitrust pressure over its dominance in the debit card market.

Why Slater left, and what it means

Gail Slater’s departure adds an interesting wrinkle. She was confirmed by the Senate on March 11, 2025, with bipartisan support. She was out the door less than a year later, reportedly amid tensions over merger policies within the division.

Bloomberg News revealed on June 25, 2026, that Candeub was poised to be nominated as Slater’s successor.

What this means for investors

For anyone with exposure to Big Tech stocks, this nomination is worth watching closely. The DOJ Antitrust Division under Candeub could pursue structural remedies, think forced divestitures or mandatory interoperability requirements, that would directly affect how Google, Apple, and Visa operate and generate revenue.

Visa’s antitrust case is particularly relevant for fintech and crypto payment companies. The company’s dominance in payment processing has long been a friction point for competitors trying to compete on alternative payment rails.

The nomination hasn’t been formally announced yet, and Senate confirmation is never guaranteed. Candeub’s resume, his ideological alignment with the administration’s tech enforcement agenda, and the sheer gravity of the cases sitting on the division’s desk make this one of the most consequential regulatory appointments of the year.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.