On December 31, 2012, amid fiscal cliff talks, the U.S. Senate confirmed William J. Baer as the U.S. Department of Justice’s assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division by a vote of 64-26. The Antitrust Division is the federal agency primarily responsible for reviewing mergers and enforcing the antitrust laws of the United States through criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits. Baer is considered highly qualified to lead the Antitrust Division given his 35 years of antitrust experience and his stature in the antitrust community.
Baer’s nomination by President Obama in February 2012 marked the continuation of the Obama administration’s mandate to take steps to increase antitrust enforcement in order to foster increased competition in the United States. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Baer in September 2012 by a 12-5 vote. Since that time, Baer had awaited final Senate approval. Baer is the first head of the Antitrust Division to be confirmed by the full Senate since Christine Varney, who took the position in 2009 and stepped down in August 2011. Obama nominated Varney just days after his first inauguration in 2009. Her tenure proved controversial, including the decision to shut down four of the division’s seven local offices, many after 50 years of stellar service. Those offices are Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas and Cleveland.
