Ahead of Senate Vote, Warren, Klobuchar, Booker, Blumenthal Press Trump Nominee on Concerns About Corporate Influence Over DOJ Antitrust Enforcement
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) sounded the alarm on Stanley Woodward’s nomination for Associate Attorney General at the Department of Justice (DOJ), ahead of his Senate confirmation vote expected as early as next week as part of a batch of 100 nominees. Since April 2025, Woodward has served as Counselor to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The lawmakers’ concerns revolve around allegations that Woodward played a role in undermining the DOJ Antitrust Division's independence by reportedly cutting backroom deals with politically-connected lobbyists. The letter comes shortly after the resignation of another top DOJ official, Chad Mizelle, who reportedly worked with Woodward to allow lobbyists to settle the recent HPE/Juniper merger case rather than pursue a trial.
“The Associate Attorney General must support the vigorous enforcement of antitrust laws, prioritize consumer choice, and promote fair market competition. Your behavior…(is) evidence of apparent willingness to allow outside corporate influence to corrupt nonpartisan enforcement of our federal antitrust laws, indicat(ing) that you are unqualified to serve in this position,” wrote the lawmakers.
Woodward reportedly played a key role in negotiating a proposed settlement to resolve the DOJ’s lawsuit to block HPE from acquiring Juniper Networks for $14 billion. The acquisition would have resulted in just two companies controlling over 70 percent of its market. Just days before the trial was set to begin, the DOJ proposed a settlement to resolve the lawsuit — reportedly the result of a backroom deal orchestrated by Woodward and signed by himself and Attorney General Bondi’s former Chief of Staff, Chad Mizelle.
Former senior official Roger Alford, who served in the Antitrust Division during the first and second Trump administrations, was recently fired after objecting to the involvement of politically connected lawyers in the HPE/Juniper settlement negotiations. He recently warned that Woodward and Mizelle “perverted justice and acted inconsistent with the rule of law” in the HPE/Juniper “scandal.”
Earlier this year, the Antitrust Division under the Biden administration filed a lawsuit to block a proposed merger between American Express Global Business Travel and CWT Holdings, citing concerns that the combined firm would control an “oligopolistic” share of the market. Shortly after, Amex GBT paid lobbying firm Ballard Partners, the former employer of Attorney General Bondi and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, $200,000 to lobby the DOJ on antitrust matters. In July, President Trump’s Justice Department notified the court that it intended to drop the case, but did not notify the public via the Department’s website.
“We remain concerned that the dismissal of the case allows the Department to escape the transparency that would have been required had the matter been resolved through a settlement, and that…Justice Department officials intervened to reach a result that was politically beneficial rather than in Americans’ best interest,” wrote the lawmakers.
In July, DOJ ended its investigation of the T-Mobile and UScellular merger, which would combine the third- and fourth-largest wireless carriers, reducing choices for consumers and potentially leading to higher cell phone bills. In August, DOJ settled its challenge to UnitedHealth Group’s $3.3 billion proposed acquisition of Amedisys Inc., which was initially filed based on concerns that it would further strengthen UnitedHealth Group’s grip over health care to home health and hospice services and would make these crucial services more expensive.
“DOJ should make decisions based on the merits, not political favors worked out with well-connected lobbyists. This pattern of incomplete transaction reviews reeks of irregularity and illustrates how, apparently under your guidance, DOJ may have repeatedly allowed politically connected corporate lobbyists to interfere with nonpartisan antitrust enforcement,” wrote the senators.
“If DOJ surrenders its enforcement authority to giant corporations looking to amass more power, costs will rise and families will suffer,” the lawmakers concluded. “Your nomination threatens to undermine DOJ’s ability to fulfill its mandate of enforcing antitrust laws to ‘protect economic freedom and opportunity on behalf of the American people,’ not giant corporate interests.”
The senators asked Woodward to respond by September 30th with answers as to whether he discussed any of the above cases with lawyers, lobbyists, or consultants hired by any company; any non-DOJ lawyers, lobbyists, or consultant; and any White House officials.
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