White House antitrust adviser Tim Wu to step down

Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Tim Wu, a tech expert and law professor who has been advising the White House on tech and competition policy, will step down from his role next week.

The White House announced that Wednesday will be his last day at the National Economic Council and he will return to his previous job, as a professor at Columbia Law School.

"We had the rare opportunity in this Administration to try and steer the giant battleship of antitrust policy in a new direction," Wu said in a statement provided by the White House.

"We got more done over the last two years than I would have ever imagined, and it has been the opportunity of a lifetime to work on that project with an extraordinarily talented group of colleagues in the White House and the federal agencies."

Wu, 50, said personal reasons were driving his departure. He has been commuting to Washington from New York, requiring him to spend long periods away from his young children, according to The New York Times.

Wu was the author of Biden's July 2021 executive order that required federal agencies takes steps to increase competition across the economy.

He also helped lead the White House push on a largely failed attempt to pass new antitrust legislation targeting the tech sector.

Wu told the Times that it was "disappointing" that tech-related legislation had not passed during his tenure and defended the White House's efforts to push for the antitrust measure.

"We supported it along the way," he said, adding, "We repeatedly and unconditionally voiced support for a bipartisan bill of that nature."