Sharis Pozen, acting Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division, announced her resignation Monday, making her the latest in a growing number of top Justice Department officials heading for the door as the election cycle intensifies.
Pozen said she will step down at the end of April.
Sharis Pozen (Andrew Ramons/Main Justice)
Pozen joined the department in 2009, serving as chief of staff, counsel and as a deputy to Assistant Attorney General Christine A. Varney. Before coming to the department, she was a partner with Varney at the firm then known as Hogan & Hartson LLP, working as director of the firm’s antitrust practice group. She also worked at the Federal Trade Commission for five years.
Pozen helped the Justice Department secure a big win in December, derailing the planned merger between AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile USA. The $39 billion deal fell apart after the department announced it would file suit to stop the deal that top officials worried would give too much market share to one wireless company and harm consumers.
Pozen stepped into the acting Assistant Attorney General role in August after Varney left for private practice.
“Sharis has helped revitalize the Antitrust Division, and I commend her dedication to protecting consumers from anticompetitive mergers, illegal price fixing cartels and other anticompetitive conduct,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement. “During her tenure as acting head of the division, Sharis has provided strong leadership and sound legal judgment on some of the most significant competition matters before the Department of Justice.”
Other high-profile resignations in recent weeks: Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli, who is stepping down in March.
