Yesterday the New York Times reported that Christine Varney, the new antitrust chief at Justice, was running into resistance as she attempted to do her job (frowned upon in the halls of power).

The most significant dispute appears to have occurred between her and the Transportation Department, which approved an “antitrust immunity request” against Varney’s recommendations. The article noted that Transportation “endorsed a policy popular during the Bush administration that favored such industry agreements out of a desire for efficiency.”

How did they attempt to resolve this dispute? Naturally, they called in a mediator with a record of aggressively steamrolling opposition and blundering his way through all matters interpersonal:

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