Makan Delrahim

When Delrahim was 10-years old, his family was forced to become refugees in the United States because they were Persian Jews. Delrahim struggled in school because he did not speak English, and worked at his father's gas station outside Los Angeles. In 1991, Delrahim graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in kinesiology. In 1995, he received his Juris Doctor from the George Washington University Law School.

After law school, Delrahim joined the Patton Boggs law firm. In 1998, Delrahim became a counsel to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, working under Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT). Jon Leibowitz, who was then a Democratic Senate aide and worked with Delrahim, remembered him as being a pragmatist.

From 2003 through 2005, Delrahim served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division in the administration of President George W. Bush. While there, he worked on the Division’s failed lawsuit attempting to block the acquisition of PeopleSoft by Oracle Corporation.

Delrahim next joined the law firm of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, where his clients included Anthem Inc., Qualcomm, Comcast, and Zuffa. While at the firm, he also worked as a lobbyist for Comcast, Google, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Johnson & Johnson, and Ultimate Fighting Championship.

In March 2016, Delrahim published an op-ed in the New York Post arguing that due to the importance of future U.S. Supreme Court nominations, Republicans should support Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton.

After Trump's victory in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Delrahim was active in Trump's presidential transition. After the inauguration of Donald Trump, Delrahim became Deputy White House Counsel and assisted in shepherding United States Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch through the United States Senate confirmation process.

Nomination as Assistant Attorney General

In March 2017, Trump announced his nomination of Delrahim as Assistant Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division. This role, which requires U.S. Senate confirmation, entails overseeing corporate mergers and acquisitions.

When interviewed, Delrahim said he was worried the European Commissioner for Competition was bringing complaints motivated by protectionism. He also emphasized that a monopoly is legal as long as it does not abuse its monopoly power.