Rep. Becca Balint, a Vermont Democrat, is pursuing the chair position of the House Antitrust Subcommittee if Democrats regain control of Congress after the midterm elections, according to sources familiar with the matter. Her expected announcement opens a consequential contest over how Democrats plan to confront corporate power.

Balint is serving her second term in Congress and currently holds the position of vice ranking member. That makes her the subcommittee’s number two Democrat behind Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, who announced earlier this year that he would not seek reelection.

One possible obstacle is Rep. Lou Correa of California, a moderate Democrat who previously served as ranking member before Nadler. Correa has forcefully opposed antitrust legislation targeting Big Tech companies and a bill intended to increase merger fees to provide better funding for antitrust enforcers.

Sources familiar with the matter consider it unlikely that Correa will seek the position. His legislative attention and committee assignments have centered on homeland security and border matters that are more relevant to his district.

Corporate America, however, is likely to search for a candidate more aligned with its interests. Balint has supported aggressive enforcement and new laws designed to address the increasing concentration of economic power in the United States.

Joseph Van Wye, a senior adviser at the antitrust and consumer protection law firm Cuneo, Gilbert, Flannery & LaDuca, LLP, praised Balint’s record. He said she would be “exceptionally well positioned to build on the legacy of Chairs Nadler and [former Rep. David] Cicilline.”

Balint does not have a guaranteed path to the position, but the Democratic Party’s political direction could favor her. A source familiar with the matter said her bid is less about generational conflict than the party’s shift toward more aggressive antitrust enforcement.

Moderate and progressive Democrats alike have increasingly adopted a populist message aimed at corporate power. A consensus is forming within the party that concentrated economic power and concentrated political power in the executive branch reinforce one another.

That message was prominent at a recent Washington event hosted by the antitrust news publication The Capitol Forum. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee and a likely future chair, warned of “renewed concentration and consolidation of both political and economic power.”

Raskin pointed to the Justice Department Antitrust Division’s settlement in the Live Nation and Ticketmaster case during the trial. He said the outcome “reflects a political lockup of the DOJ,” while state enforcers continued the trial and secured a verdict that Live Nation is a monopoly.

Raskin argued that congressional oversight and legislation could address the problem. “We must again confront the market power problem in our country and revive real antitrust machinery to correct it,” he said.

If Balint rises to the top of the subcommittee, Big Tech companies that previously faced congressional scrutiny would likely confront renewed investigations. Under Cicilline in 2020, the panel conducted a wide ranging investigation of technology platforms that prepared the ground for an expansive antitrust agenda.

Corporate friendly Democrats ultimately blocked the resulting bills, but strong subcommittee leadership could revive them, particularly amid interest in guardrails for artificial intelligence. Democrats have also raised antitrust concerns involving health care, housing, food and agriculture markets, private equity firms, and Justice Department settlements under President Trump.

Members of the future House Judiciary Committee would vote on subcommittee leaders, placing pressure on a panel whose eventual membership remains uncertain. Raskin is likely to lead the committee and would wield substantial influence over its direction.

“Balint over Correa should be a layup on a six-foot basketball hoop for Raskin and the new Judiciary Committee,” said Jeff Hauser, founder and executive director of the Revolving Door Project. Raskin said the committee would follow Democratic caucus rules when selecting new leadership.

Other current subcommittee Democrats appear unlikely to seek the chair. Nadler and Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García of Illinois are retiring, while Reps. Zoe Lofgren of California and Hank Johnson of Georgia have focused their legislative work on other issues.

Balint is a founding member of the congressional Monopoly Busters Caucus and chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus’s Ending Corporate Greed Task Force. She has advocated stronger antitrust enforcement, stricter merger standards, and greater attention to corporate greed in health care and housing costs.

Balint also coauthored a letter concerning “potential corruption” in Justice Department antitrust enforcement involving acting Inspector General William Blier. Aaron Hiller, chief counsel to Raskin, said Democratic leaders intend to examine market concentration “industry by industry and tell that story.”