Vice President Kamala Harris will prioritize small business growth and big industry competition in shaping her own antitrust and regulatory policy if she wins the presidency in November, Maryland’s Democratic governor said. Wes Moore he said on Wednesday.
“Making sure that we’re both supporting our small businesses and making it easier for small businesses to grow, and also making it easier for our large industries to be able to compete within our states and within this country is something that I think is going to be important ” of Harris, Moore said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
A pro-growth, pro-competitive approach to business in a potential Harris administration would mark a striking departure from the aggressive confidence-busting principles and merger skepticism that have shaped the Biden administration’s regulatory agenda.
“As the vice president thinks about a future administration, there will be different dynamics that will require different philosophies,” Moore said. “There will be different socio-political and just political dynamics that will require a different set, a different lens and a different vision.”
Moore is a close Biden-Harris ally and a rising star in the Democratic Party who rose to national prominence this year after the Baltimore bridge collapse in March.
But he previously worked as an investment banker for and ran Citigroup and Deutsche Bank Robin Hood Foundationthe New York-based anti-poverty charity that draws much of its support from Wall Street.
The Harris campaign did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Moore’s comments.
But his comments could fuel the hopes of Wall Street negotiators who are already optimistic that a potential Harris administration — though rooted in progressive economic traditions — might deprioritize the aggressive antitrust regime that has been a trademark of the Biden presidency.
Democratic major donors, including IAC Chairman Barry Diller and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, have gone so far as to publicly call on Harris to commit to replacing Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Khan, who has been at the forefront of suppression of major negotiations. the last three years.
US presidents are not allowed to fire the heads of independent agencies like the FTC at will, and Harris has given no indication of a rift with the Biden-Harris administration’s FTC.
However, presidents can, if they choose, replace the chairs of independent commissions like the FTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission with another commission member, and in doing so, change the agency’s priorities.
The public lobbying effort by Diller and Hoffman reflects a growing view in corporate America that Harris may be open to a less aggressive approach to regulating big business, especially when it comes to mergers.
“This ‘big is bad’ animosity. [from Biden] will fall by the wayside” in a potential Harris administration, according to White & Case partner George Paul, who recently advised an attempt merger between Kroger and Albertsons. “I don’t think Harris will go that far. I think she’ll take a step back.”
Just two weeks into her presidential campaign, Harris is still crafting a policy platform. Meanwhile, her corporate rhetoric echoes some of Biden’s. But not all.
“I’m going to take the price hike and I’m going to cut costs,” Harris said at a rally in Atlanta in July. “We will ban more of these hidden fees and surprise late fees that banks and other companies use to cover their profits.”
Beyond the campaign trail, how Harris would govern if she wins the White House remains, in many ways, an open question.
