(Reuters) -Donald Trump has begun the method of selecting a cupboard and deciding on different high-ranking administration officers following his U.S. presidential election victory.
Listed here are among the contenders for a number of posts overseeing regulation and enforcement.
Commerce Division
LINDA MCMAHON
McMahon is seen as a high contender for Commerce secretary. She served as head of the Small Enterprise Administration within the first Trump administration and is chair of the pro-Trump America First Motion (WA:) tremendous political motion committee. She serves on the board of social media platform Reality Social, and is a significant Trump donor.
ROBERT LIGHTHIZER
A loyalist who served as Trump’s U.S. commerce consultant for primarily the president-elect’s whole first time period, Lighthizer will virtually definitely be invited again. He’s thought of a contender for the highest jobs at Treasury, the Commerce Division and the U.S. Commerce Consultant’s workplace. Lighthizer is a agency believer in tariffs and was one of many main figures in Trump’s commerce battle with China.
VIVEK RAMASWAMY
A Republican presidential candidate till he dropped out of the race in January, Ramaswamy is a possible selection for the highest job at Commerce. The multi-millionaire former biotech government gained fame in right-wing circles due to his 2021 bestseller “Woke, Inc.,” which decries choices by some massive corporations to base enterprise technique round social-justice and climate-change considerations.
NAZAK NIKAKHTAR
Nikakhtar was previously an assistant secretary and acted as underneath secretary for the Bureau of Business and Safety in the course of the first Trump administration. She is being thought of for a senior put up on the Commerce Division, which oversees export controls which have been utilized by Washington within the U.S.-China tech battle. She is a lawyer and presently chairs the nationwide safety observe at Wiley Rein.
Antitrust
GAIL SLATER
A coverage advisor to Vice President-elect JD (NASDAQ:) Vance, Slater is seen by antitrust attorneys as a high candidate to steer the Federal Commerce Fee. Slater beforehand suggested Trump on information privateness and telecommunications, and held roles at Fox Corp (NASDAQ:) and Roku (NASDAQ:). Earlier than that, Slater was on the FTC for 10 years, together with as an advisor to then-Commissioner Julie Brill (AS:), who’s now an government at Microsoft (NASDAQ:).
MELISSA HOLYOAK
One of many FTC’s two present commissioners, Holyoak is a potential decide for appearing chair. She was Utah’s solicitor common, and beforehand led the Hamilton Lincoln Legislation Institute, a conservative non-profit legislation agency targeted on free speech and restricted authorities.
ANDREW FERGUSON
The opposite Republican on the FTC, Ferguson is one other potential candidate for high antitrust roles. He was beforehand chief counsel to Republican Senator Mitch McConnell and clerked for U.S. Supreme Court docket Justice Clarence Thomas. Each Ferguson and Holyoak voted towards among the company’s initiatives underneath chair Lina Khan, together with a rule that will make it simpler to cancel subscriptions and ban non-compete agreements.
ANDREW FINCH
Finch, a former deputy within the Division of Justice’s antitrust division underneath Trump who expressed skepticism in the direction of “drastic requires breaking apart companies or turning tech platforms into regulated utilities,” may very well be a contender to steer the division. Finch is a associate at Paul Weiss the place he has represented Spirit Airways (NYSE:), Uber Applied sciences (NYSE:) and Mastercard (NYSE:) in merger evaluations.
BARRY NIGRO
A former antitrust official on the DOJ and FTC and associate at Fried Frank, Nigro is one other potential candidate. Nigro dealt with the DOJ’s evaluation of T-Cellular US (NASDAQ:) Inc’s $26-billion takeover of Dash Corp in 2020 and pharmacy-chain CVS Well being Corp (NYSE:)’s $69-billion acquisition of well being insurer Aetna Inc (NYSE:).
Cybersecurity
JOSHUA STEINMAN
A protégé of former Trump Nationwide Safety Adviser Gen. Michael Flynn, Steinman performed a key position within the first Trump administration’s aggressive stance on authorities hacking operations and is a contender for a senior cybersecurity place.
Federal Communications Fee
BRENDAN CARR
Considered one of two Republican members of the Federal Communications Fee, Carr is a probable decide for appearing chair of the FCC (BME:) – and a possible everlasting chair. He has been a supporter of Elon Musk’s efforts to win subsidies for broadband web service and criticized NBC for letting Vice President Kamala Harris seem on “Saturday Night time Dwell” simply earlier than the election.