Justice Department fires two antitrust officials for alleged insubordination

The Justice Department recently fired two of its top antitrust officials for alleged insubordination amid criticism of the department's merger policies. 

The antitrust division is responsible for overseeing and investigating allegations of anticompetitive behavior among major businesses, and often sues to stop major mergers from taking place that would result in monopolies. 

The two officials have been identified as Roger Alford, principal deputy assistant attorney general, and Bill Rinner, deputy assistant attorney general and head of merger enforcement, per CBS News. Both were placed on administrative leave last week. 

The officials were part of the division that oversaw several of the administration’s most high-profile antitrust cases, including lawsuits against Google and Apple. 

The dismissals come amid reports of internal friction in the division over the administration's merger policies after it cleared the way for certain mergers to go through. Among the recent mergers are Hewlett-Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks and T-Mobile’s $4.4 billion acquisition of UScellular, according to The Hill.

Neither employee has commented on the dismissal so far, but the Justice Department confirmed the departures to The Hill.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.