Jonathan Kanter

In October 2022, renewed scrutiny of anti-competitive interlocking directorate agreements led to the resignation of seven directors at five companies. As part of the DOJ's scrutiny of private equity firms, it was reported that the department is investigating potential violations by firms including Blackstone and Apollo Global Management.

In May 2022, it was reported that Kanter would be temporarily barred from participating in antitrust scrutiny of Google until the DOJ decides if he must ultimately recuse himself. In response, a coalition of 28 advocacy groups wrote in favor of allowing Kanter to continue his participation in the case. According to The Daily Beast, the decision of whether to allow Kanter to participate in United States v. Google will fall on Vanita Gupta, associate attorney general.

According to Politico, Kanter's selection "came after the longest delay for a nominee to lead the office in modern history," following months of speculation surrounding his eventual nomination. On July 20, 2021, Kanter was formally nominated to serve as assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice Antitrust Division. His nomination was endorsed by nine former assistant attorneys general for the Antitrust Division, including Makan Delrahim, who served in the position under Donald Trump.

On October 6, 2021, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. On October 28, 2021, his nomination was favorably reported out of committee. On November 16, 2021, Kanter was confirmed by the United States Senate in a 68–29 vote, and was sworn in the same day.

Kanter was a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft from 2007 to 2016, then at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison from 2016 to 2020. In 2020, he left Paul Weiss and founded his own law firm, The Kanter Law Group, where he worked until his appointment in 2021 to lead the Justice Department's Antitrust Division.

After graduating from law school, Kanter first worked as an antitrust lawyer at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from 1998 to 2000. Kanter later worked in private practice, where he represented clients including Microsoft and Yelp. From 2000 to 2007, he was an associate at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson.

Jonathan Seth Kanter (born July 30, 1973) is an American antitrust attorney who has served as assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division since November 16, 2021. Prior to this, Kanter worked as an antitrust attorney at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and in private practice.

Kanter was born July 30, 1973, in Queens, New York City to elementary school teachers. He graduated from the State University of New York at Albany in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts. He then attended the Washington University School of Law, graduating in 1998 with a Juris Doctor degree.

During his time in office, Kanter has intensified scrutiny of anti-competitive interlocking directorates, in which an individual serves on the boards of competing companies in the same industry. Legal analysts have noted that section 8 of the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 forbids individuals from simultaneously holding director positions in companies in competition with each other, but that this law has largely been unenforced over the past century.