Overview

• On July 28 the Justice Department dismissed Roger Alford and Bill Rinner for insubordination after they were placed on administrative leave during merger enforcement disputes.
• The firings followed intervention by DOJ leaders including Chad Mizelle, who overruled career lawyers’ objections to the Hewlett Packard Enterprise–Juniper Networks settlement.
• Career antitrust officials had clashed with political appointees over how aggressively to challenge mergers involving T-Mobile, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and other major technology firms.
• The HPE-Juniper Networks settlement permits the $14 billion merger to move forward pending a judge’s review despite internal DOJ opposition.
• Senators from both parties, led by Amy Klobuchar, have demanded answers and warned that the dismissals threaten the division’s independence.