Overview

• Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker and Richard Blumenthal asked a federal judge to hold hearings under the Tunney Act on HPE’s $14 billion merger with Juniper Networks.
• Their appeal follows reports that senior White House and U.S. intelligence officials intervened to override DOJ antitrust objections on national security grounds.
• DOJ antitrust deputies Roger Alford and Bill Rinner were dismissed this week for insubordination over the merger settlement, the department confirmed.
• The acquisition closed on July 2 after HPE agreed to divest its Instant On business and license Juniper’s AIOps source code as part of a DOJ settlement.
• Analysts warn that renewed judicial scrutiny could delay integration plans and spotlight tensions between competition policy and geopolitical strategy.