Warren Calls Out Buttigieg, Vilsack For Failing To Stop Monopolies

The Democratic senator praised the Biden administration’s antitrust work but said more should be done, pointing to the transportation and agriculture secretaries.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is calling out three Biden administration regulators: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Michael Hsu, the acting comptroller of the currency.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is calling out three Biden administration regulators: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Michael Hsu, the acting comptroller of the currency.
Kent Nishimura via Getty Images

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called out two major federal agencies for failing to play a meaningful role in President Joe Biden’s antitrust agenda, blasting the transportation and agriculture departments for letting their powers to block mergers and anticompetitive practices “gather dust.”

In a sweeping speech Wednesday morning at the progressive Open Markets Institute, Warren mostly praised the Biden administration’s antitrust agenda as the start of a reversal of 40 years of corporate consolidation. She called for the Justice Department to release stricter merger guidelines and reverse some past mergers, including the widely unpopular coming together of LiveNation and Ticketmaster.

However, she pointed at a finger at Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for failing to do their part.

“If DOT determines a route transfer would harm competition, like JetBlue’s
possible acquisition of Spirit, there’s no need to wait for the [Justice Department],” Warren said, referring to the potential merger of two low-cost carriers. “Secretary Buttigieg has the power to stop anticompetitive airline mergers ― and he should use that power right now.”

Warren and Buttigieg were rivals during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, competing directly for college-educated voters. Progressive allies of the Massachusetts senator have long suggested Buttigieg’s relative moderation makes him afraid to challenge corporate power.

In a statement, the Department of Transportation reiterated it is closely examining the merger alongside the Justice Department. Last month, the department hired Jen Howard, formerly the chief of staff at the Federal Trade Commission, an agency Warren singled out for praise, to run its competition policy.

“Competition is a priority for the Administration and we’re working with DOJ on this,” a Transportation Department spokesperson said.

Warren was even more critical of Vilsack, a moderate former governor of Iowa and longtime Biden ally. She blamed Vilsack for failing to block a merger of Wayne Farms and Sanderson Farms, two major poultry producers in the South, and for continuing to award federal contracts to JBS, a massive food processing company that has been accused of bribery and price fixing.

“Why not stop giving taxpayer money to these crooks? Well, as the secretary argued, there really aren’t any competitors, so he has no choice but to keep working with a corporate criminal,” Warren said. “Here’s an idea ― break up the big meatpackers so there’s real competition.”

A USDA spokesperson downplayed any split with Warren, saying Vilsack has “tremendous appreciation and respect for Senator Warren’s ongoing work to protect Americans from anticompetitive behavior in the marketplace” before defending the agency’s record, noting the agency has put significantly more resources and effort into enforcing the Packers and Stockyards Act, which is designed to protect competition in the meat industry.

“Under Secretary Vilsack’s leadership, USDA has taken significant action to promote competition in the meat and poultry processing sector, including by making historic investments directly into increasing competitive capacity across food and agriculture, updating our rules and enforcement through the Packers & Stockyards Act, and increasing value for producers and consumers,” the spokesperson said. “USDA will continue to make historic progress on behalf of producers, consumers and our economy.”

The spokesperson also noted the decision to allow JBS to receive federal contracts was made in early 2021, before Vilsack’s confirmation.

Warren also called out a lower-profile regulator, Michael Hsu, the acting comptroller of the currency, for continuing to allow “anticompetitive” bank mergers.

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