Organized Money White Collar Crime Enforcement In The Age Of ICE
Feb 4, 2026
Richard Powers, former DOJ antitrust leader and veteran prosecutor of healthcare fraud and bid rigging. He discusses shrinking antitrust and white collar enforcement as budgets shift to immigration. Short takes on lost expertise, whistleblower incentives, hurdles to bringing big tech cases, and what it will take to rebuild prosecutorial capacity.
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Budget Shift Prioritizes Immigration Over White‑Collar Enforcement
- Massive ICE funding redirected resources away from white-collar enforcement and other agencies.
- That budget shift prioritized policing non-rich populations while reducing scrutiny of corporate crime.
Leverage Whistleblower Incentives
- Use whistleblower incentives to surface hidden cartels and bid‑rigging schemes.
- Encourage internal disclosures so companies face pressure to self-report before employees whistle.
Resource Imbalance Chills Prosecutors
- Powerful defendants and their law firms create large resource disparities against DOJ prosecutors.
- That disparity chills aggressive enforcement and shapes hiring and career pressures.
