HOUSE REPUBLICANS ABANDON PLANS TO CONSOLIDATE ANTITRUST AUTHORITY (FOR NOW)
June 20, 2025
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On April 30, 2025, Congressman Jordan, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, withdrew his proposal to fold the antitrust responsibilities of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) into the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”). As proposed, the amendment would transfer all FTC antitrust enforcement actions and related employees to the DOJ. Advocates for the Department of Government Efficiency like Elon Musk lauded the proposal as a means to streamline the enforcement of U.S. antitrust laws into a single regulator. Companies have long faced two potential antitrust regulators depending on whether the FTC or the DOJ’s Antitrust Division investigate. While the FTC and DOJ share some overlapping responsibilities for antitrust enforcement, opponents to Congressman Jordan’s amendment worried that transferring FTC authority to DOJ would weaken ongoing antitrust enforcement actions against major corporations including Apple and Meta. Following bipartisan opposition to his amendment, Congressman Jordan walked back the controversial proposal, yet House Republicans continue to draft legislation implementing President Trump’s domestic agenda, so the door remains open for a single U.S. antitrust regulator. This development comes as the DOJ’s Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force examines the process by which DOT grants antitrust immunity (“ATI”) to airlines so those in the aviation industry should closely monitor legislative proposals for potential changes to ATI. Of note, the extent to which regulators can thoroughly investigate mergers between those in the aviation industry (e.g., Republic and Mesa’s all-stock merger transaction) could also be impacted because transferring all antitrust responsibilities to the DOJ would further strain already limited investigative resources among federal agencies.
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