In this file photo, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., listens during a confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times via AP, Pool, File)
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a vocal critic of big tech, said the antitrust lawsuit filed on Tuesday by the Department of Justice against Google has the potential to become the biggest strike against monopoly power since the Microsoft case settled in 2001.
"This new case will be the most significant antitrust case in a generation and certainly since the Microsoft case, and I think it has the potential to be bigger than the Microsoft case because Google is a more powerful platform, a more powerful company than Microsoft was," Hawley told Cheddar's J.D. Durkin on Tuesday.
He agrees with critics of the Microsoft case that it should have gone further, but maintains that it still helped spur the startup boom of the early 2000s.
"People often say, well, it really wasn't that successful, but actually if you look at the surge in tech startups that occurred during and immediately after the Microsoft case, I think you can see that taking on Microsoft had a significant pro-competition, pro-innovation effect," he said.
The senator also stressed that this is a critical moment for antitrust law in the U.S.
"Let's just be honest here, the stakes are high for the Department of Justice," he said. "They need to prosecute this case to the fullest extent of their abilities, and they need to get a win. They need to show that antitrust law still has an important part to play in the 21st century economy, and I believe they'll do that."
Palestinians in Gaza lined up outside bakeries on Thursday after spending the night in pitch darkness surrounded by the ruins of pulverized neighborhoods, as Israel launched new airstrikes and said it was preparing for a possible ground invasion.
Republicans on Wednesday nominated Rep. Steve Scalise to be the next House speaker and will now try to unite around the conservative in a floor vote to elect him after ousting Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the post.
The number of U.S. citizens confirmed to have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war has risen to at least 22 with at least 17 more Americans unaccounted for, the State Department said Wednesday. That's an increase in the death toll from 14 the day before, in a war that has already claimed more than 2,200 lives on both sides.
The Israel-Hamas war is now in its fifth day with Israeli officials saying at least 1200 people have been killed in the country, including 150 soldiers. President Joe Biden has confirmed at least 14 Americans are among the dead.
Negotiations started on the Biden administration's latest attempt at student loan forgiveness after the Supreme Court blocked Biden's attempt to use the 2003 Heroes Act to advance student loan forgiveness.
