Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, U.S. Vice President, speaks during a campaign rally at the Georgia Convention Center on July 30, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia.
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wall street Dealmakers say they trust Vice President Kamala Harrisif she were to win the November presidential election Donald Trumpis a new beginning for antitrust supervision and an excellent opportunity to relax Biden’s antitrust system.
“This ‘big is bad’ hostility (from Biden) will be brushed aside in a potential Harris administration,” said George Paul, a partner at law firm White & Case. Kroger merges with Albertsons. “I don’t think Harris is going to go that far. I think she’s going to take a step back.”
Wall Street hopes for looser regulations under Harris Democratic presidential candidatemay suggest a broader point that her stance on corporate regulation remains malleable.
Harris has been running for president for just over a week and less than 100 days before the election, and her campaign is working at breakneck speed to build an economic platform and work to flesh out her positions on key policy issues.
Harris has remained silent so far Antitrust Enforcement is a cornerstone of the Biden administration’s crackdown on big business.
“The White House isn’t counting on her support on the competition policy agenda, so maybe she’s doing things behind the scenes that aren’t obvious to the naked eye,” former FTC Chairman Bill Kovacic said in an interview. “So I think she has some latitude to operate.”
As far as the campaign goes, Harris is likely to stick with Biden’s Economic Playbook Enterprises confrontation. But what will happen to specific policies if she wins the White House is an open question.
Meanwhile, M&A dealmakers are trying to fill the void.
The Harris campaign did not respond to a request for comment on the vice president’s antitrust stance.
Harris in front of the White House
California Attorney General Kamala Harris.
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Experts say Harris’ experience as California’s attorney general may shed light on her antitrust philosophy.
Bill Baer, an antitrust policy adviser to Biden’s 2021 presidential transition team, serves as the Justice Department’s antitrust chief, while Harris serves as attorney general. As antitrust chief, Bell occasionally clashed with Harris’ office on antitrust cases.
“I haven’t had any personal interactions with her, so we haven’t discussed anything, but her antitrust team is talented, experienced and very efficient,” Bell told CNBC. “From what I understand, she’s very supportive of the state. Strong antitrust enforcement at the first level.”
Harris’ attorney general’s office has taken multiple regulatory actions to curtail corporate power, particularly in health care. In 2016, her office joined federal lawsuit Block the health insurance merger between Anthem and Cigna. That same year, her team also filed a lawsuit against a drug pricing practice that she argued inflated drug costs opioid addiction treat.
Her California roots have also raised questions about ties to Silicon Valley, leaving corporate America wondering whether a Harris White House would give business leaders more room to speak.
“When tech CEOs come to Capitol Hill to testify and be grilled, they will have the ability to drive down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House and meet with the president,” White & Case’s Paul said.
“I think it will bring them a lot of comfort,” Paul added. “I also think it means we’re going back to more moderate policies on issues like this.”
Wall Street’s Wish List
Reid Hoffman, Partner at Greylock; Co-Founder of LinkedIn, Co-Founder of Infection AI, Barry Diller, Chairman of IAC/ActiveCorp and Expedia, Inc.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters | Drew Angler | Getty Images
Last week, two Democratic Party Big DonorIAC Chairman Barry Diller and LinkedIn co-founder Reed Hoffman called on Harris to commit to succeed FTC Chair Lena Khan, who is one of the central figures in the Biden administration’s push to expand antitrust enforcement.
The president does not have the authority to fire the heads of independent agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission. Although Khan’s term ends in September, she will remain in office by default unless the current president appoints a new one and is confirmed by the Senate.
Diller and Hoffman’s demands, while perhaps far-fetched under a Harris administration, could be seen as a sign of corporate America’s optimism about its ability to shape the vice president.
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Lina Khan speaks during the 2024 CNBC CEO Council Summit on June 4, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Shannon Finney | CNBC
Douglas Farrar, a spokesman for the FTC, told CNBC that the agency was not considering elections as it implemented its agenda and felt it had the support of Biden and Harris.
View from Washington
The future of Harris’s antitrust policies will ultimately stem from unstable political calculations.
Although Biden often polls poorly on the economy, his public battles with big corporations have occasionally won him support among voters.
Biden’s antitrust regime also pleases progressives on Capitol Hill, including allies such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, D-Vt. who helped the president advance his legislative agenda.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., participate in the 10th Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season in Charleston, South Carolina, on February 25, 2020.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
“I don’t know exactly what (Harris’s) relationship is with the Sanders-Warren faction in the Senate and with her counterparts elsewhere in Congress, but that perspective is very important in the Biden plan,” Kovacic said. “Going forward. “The big question is whether Harris feels there is any commitment or obligation to continue this practice.”
The political game has some in Washington hoping Harris will stick with Biden’s strategy, although the vice president himself did not answer the question.
“There are issues on the agenda that she hasn’t touched on yet,” Elizabeth Wilkins, Khan’s former chief of staff, told CNBC. “I also think Vice President Harris has a record of protecting families and small businesses. There are other parts that I think fall squarely into the antitrust agenda.”
