*

Merger in question is HP Enterprise deal with Juniper

Networks

*

US Senators ask judge for hearing on merger and public

interest

*

Rift seen between robust antitrust enforcement and

dealmakers

By Jody Godoy and Sarah N. Lynch

July 29 (Reuters) - Two officials at the U.S. Department

of Justice's antitrust division have been fired for

insubordination, a source familiar with the decision said on

Tuesday, as controversy builds over how the DOJ reached a recent

settlement greenlighting Hewlett Packard Enterprise's ( HPE )

$14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks.

The source said the firings removed two top deputies of

Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater, a former JD Vance

advisor who leads the antitrust division. The move exposed a

power struggle within President Donald Trump's administration

between proponents of robust antitrust enforcement and

dealmakers seeking to leverage influence.

Roger Alford, a former official during the first Trump

administration who was Slater's top deputy, and Bill Rinner, a

former counsel at hedge fund Apollo Global Management who was in

charge of merger enforcement, were no longer listed among

antitrust leadership on a Justice Department website on Tuesday.

Alford and Rinner did not immediately respond to requests

for comment.

Shortly after Trump took office in January, the Justice

Department sued to block the deal, alleging it would harm

competition in the market for wireless networking solutions used

by large enterprises. HP Enterprise started negotiating the deal

with the DOJ on March 25, around two weeks after Slater was

sworn in, according to court papers.

Ahead of a scheduled trial, the DOJ agreed to drop its

claims in exchange for HP Enterprise agreeing to license some of

Juniper's AI technology to competitors and sell off a unit that

caters to small and mid-sized businesses.

Slater and several Justice officials, including Rinner and

Alford, signed the settlement rather than staff attorneys on the

case, a move that sources familiar with merger protocol called

unusual.

Chad Mizelle, Attorney General Pam Bondi's chief of staff,

was one of the officials who signed the deal.

Mizelle had directed the antitrust division to settle the

case, according to a person briefed on the matter. After Slater

pushed back, Mizelle sought to fire Slater's deputies in

retaliation, the person said.

Four Democratic senators led by Elizabeth Warren of

Massachusetts, on Tuesday called on the federal judge overseeing

the merger case to hold a hearing on whether the settlement is

in the public interest.

U.S. law seeks to guard against backdoor merger clearance of

merger deals by requiring merging companies to disclose

communications with "any officer or employee of the United

States concerning or relevant to" a settlement proposal.

The senators want U.S. District Judge Casey Pitts in San

Jose, California, to probe whether companies hired consultants

to lobby the White House in support of the deal and failed to

disclose them.

"If this or any other transaction is approved based on

political favors rather than on the merits, the public will

surely bear the cost," the senators wrote.