[Simone Del Rosario]

It’s official. The U.S. government wants to break up Google. But will the same hold true when the White House changes hands in January?

Back in August, a federal judge ruled Google illegally maintained a monopoly in internet search. This gave the Department of Justice a major antitrust victory in a case that actually started during the first Trump administration. 

Now, the Biden DOJ says competition cannot be restored unless Google is forced to sell off Chrome, its dominant web browser. 

Judge Amit Mehta set a two-week hearing on remedies for April – when President-elect Donald Trump will be back in charge of the DOJ. 

Bill Kovacic: The new administration could come forward and say, ‘We mentioned a breakup. We don’t have the enthusiasm for it that we did before. Of course, Judge, if you thought it was appropriate, that’s your call. It’s not ours. You are ultimately the decision maker about remedy, but our view is that it’s no longer required, and we’re not asking for it.’

Simone Del Rosario: Ok, so that’s a possibility. What has Trump said about it all? While he’s certainly no fan of Big Tech or Google, he has so far sidestepped calling for a breakup. 

Donald Trump: I think Google’s rigged just like our government is rigged all over the place.

Bloomberg EIC: So you would break them up, in other words. 

Donald Trump: I’d do something. You have to have, look, I give them a lot of credit. They’ve become such a power, such a power, and you’ve got to give them credit for that. How they become a power is really the discussion. At the same time, it’s a very dangerous thing because we want to have great companies, we don’t want China to have these companies. 

Bill Kovacic: He said that he might not be fond of a breakup, that Google’s an important company. Don’t want to injure them in some way. I don’t know if that was a well-considered view about remedies, but his nominee to head the Department of Justice, Matt Gaetz, has said, breakup sounds good to me when it comes to this company. And the Vice President-elect Vance has said, breaking them up sounds good to me too. So it seems within the upper echelon of the Trump brain trust that there’s a lot of enthusiasm for going through with the structural remedy.

Simone Del Rosario: Google is appealing the ruling, telling Straight Arrow News, “The DOJ cotinues to push a radical agenda that goes far beyond the legal issues in this case. The government putting its thumb on the scale in these ways would harm consumers, developers and American technological leadership at precisely the moment it is most needed.” 

Bill Kovacic: We haven’t had something like this in ages, that is, to have the elaborate discussion of what antitrust law should do after a finding of liability in this kind of setting, Google has the opportunity to come forward and say, ‘You wanted an extraordinary form of intervention. We have something that is much better, equally effective and not as disruptive.’

Simone Del Rosario: The last time antitrust officials tried to break up a Big Tech company of this magnitude, it was Microsoft in the late ’90s and early 2000s. In the end, through a convoluted appeals process, the DOJ eventually backed off its call to break up Microsoft and settled for a lesser antitrust penalty. 

Bill Kovacic: A big part of the task of the Justice Department in the coming months, if they want a breakup, is to give the judge assurances that it’s worth doing. A number of judges in the past have said, I’m a single unelected official bearing the burden of determining the future of an important sector that makes me nervous. I’m willing to travel the path that the government suggests, but I want assurances that it is the right path.

Simone Del Rosario: For more on what Google has been accused of and potential fixes that involve Android and more, search “Google Monopoly” for this story with all the Google apps at SAN.com and the Straight Arrow News app.