across the country saw candidate Biden as a centrist moderate,” said Carl Szabo, vice president of Netchoice, a coalition with members including Facebook, Google and Amazon.

“And it turns out that he is definitely interested in advancing left-wing and progressive politics at all levels of the government, including at the antitrust level.”

A flyer circulated by Netchoice in Congress last week urged senators to oppose Kanter’s nomination, accusing the Biden administration of trying to “con” Republicans into supporting “a progressive advocate, NOT an impartial enforcer” who would “use antitrust enforcement to circumvent Congress” to advance progressive policies.

Equally caught off guard were antitrust observers on both sides of the debate — those who believe increased regulation would ensure competition and protect consumers, and others who say breakups and overregulation hurt innovation and U.S. global competitiveness.

After Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election, “there was a genuine reflection on the approach to economic policy among the Democratic establishment and a realization that there was a critical field of policy that they never paid attention to,” said Sarah Miller, executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project, which favors stricter regulations.

“They needed to turn the page for their agenda to succeed,” Miller said. “And that, even to my surprise, is what they have done.”

Geoffrey Manne, president of the International Center for Law and Economics, which advocates limited antitrust regulation of digital platforms, said that when Biden hired Wu to work in the White House, it was an olive branch to progressive

Democrats.

“It sort of seemed not like a super important position that would give him a chance to flex his policy muscles, but didn’t seem like it would necessarily indicate anything about the administration’s agenda,” he said.

“Now, with Lina as FTC chairwoman and Jonathan at DOJ, it is surprising, and it doesn’t seem to match the campaign rhetoric.”

Whether Biden favors breaking up the technology companies is immaterial, Manne said.

“We’re not talking about Biden anymore,” he said. “We’re talking about Kanter and Tim Wu and Lina Khan. Who cares what Biden personally thinks? He set things in motion that he obviously doesn’t mind happening. And I think those guys are very serious about it.”

Still, Biden supporters say his actions in the White House align with his nominations. Charlotte Slaiman, the director of competition policy at Public Knowledge, a nonpartisan consumer rights organization, said a July executive order indicated Biden’s support for “a whole-of-government [effort] to regulating competition policy.”

Biden signed an executive order on July 9 saying his administration would enforce antitrust laws “to combat the excessive concentration of industry.”

The order said antitrust enforcement would be used to meet challenges posed by new industries and technologies, including the rise of the dominant internet platforms.

“He is not just focused on the antitrust enforcement agencies but also sector-specific agencies, and how they should be prioritizing competition as well,” Slaiman said. “I expect that we’ll continue to see follow-through on that order from other parts of the executive branch.”

And although Biden may not have mentioned Wu, Khan or Kanter during the election, Slaiman said, the themes of his campaign aligned with their visions for regulating a more fair economy.

“It’s consistent with his campaign. That was really about the little guy and making the economy work for regular people,” she said.

“He came in saying that he wanted to build a bridge with the more progressive side of the party, and it’s clear that he’s doing that.”