Vice President Kamala Harris will prioritize small business growth and large industry competition in shaping her own antitrust and regulatory policies if she wins the presidential election in November, Maryland Democratic Governor Wes Moore said Wednesday.
“Making sure that we both support our small businesses and make it easier for them to grow, and also make it easier for our large industries to compete in our states and in this country, is something that I think is going to be important,” Moore told Harris on CNBC's “Squawk Box.”
A pro-growth, pro-competitive approach to the economy by a potential Harris administration would be a significant departure from the aggressive, anti-merger and merger-skeptical principles that have characterized the Biden administration's regulatory agenda.
“As the vice president thinks about forward-looking administration, there are going to be different dynamics that require different philosophies,” Moore said. “There are going to be different sociopolitical and equity policy dynamics that require a different set, a different view and a different vision.”
Moore is a close ally of Biden and Harris and a rising star in the Democratic Party who rose to national prominence this year following the Baltimore bridge collapse in March.
But he also previously worked as an investment banker for Citigroup and Deutsche Bank and ran the Robin Hood Foundation, a New York-based anti-poverty charity that receives much of its support from Wall Street.
The Harris team did not respond to CNBC's request for comment on Moore's remarks.
But his comments could boost the hopes of Wall Street traders who are already optimistic that a possible Harris administration – while firmly rooted in progressive economic traditions – could scale back the aggressive antitrust law that has been a hallmark of Biden's presidency.
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Major Democratic donors such as IAC Chairman Barry Diller and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman even publicly called on Harris to run for office as the successor to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan, who has been at the forefront of opposing big deals for the past three years.
US presidents are not allowed to fire the heads of independent agencies like the FTC at will, and Harris has shown no sign of a split with the Biden-Harris administration's FTC.
However, presidents are free to replace the chairs of independent commissions such as the FTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission with another commission member at their discretion, thereby shifting the agencies' priorities.
Diller and Hoffman's public lobbying efforts reflect a growing view in the American business community that Harris might be willing to take a less aggressive approach to regulating big business, particularly when it comes to corporate mergers.
“This ‘big is evil’ hostility [from Biden] will fall by the wayside in a possible Harris administration,” said George Paul, a partner at White & Case who recently advised on a merger attempt between Kroger and Albertsons. “I don't think Harris will go that far. I think she will take a step back.”
Less than two weeks into the presidential campaign, Harris is still working on a political program. Her rhetoric in the corporate world now resembles some of Biden's. But not entirely.
“I will crack down on price gouging and lower costs,” Harris said at a rally in Atlanta in July. “We will ban even more of the hidden fees and surprise late fees that banks and other companies use to boost their profits.”
Beyond the election campaign, the question of how Harris would govern in the event of a victory in the White House is still open in many respects.
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