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On July 24, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) convened the second of three public listening sessions aimed at identifying barriers to drug price competition in the U.S. healthcare system. The session is part of a broader policy push under Executive Order 14273, “Lowering Drug Prices by Once Again Putting Americans First,” which mandates a coordinated federal effort to investigate and dismantle anticompetitive practices within the pharmaceutical sector, with the overarching goal of reducing prescription drug costs for Americans. The July 24th session concentrated on issues relating to formulary design, benefit management, and the misuse of regulatory mechanisms that may restrict or delay generic and biosimilar market entry.Continue Reading DOJ and FTC Host Second Session on Structural and Regulatory Impediments to Drug Competition

On Tuesday, July 8, the DOJ Antitrust Division announced a first-of-its-kind Antitrust Whistleblower Rewards Program (the “Program”). But the Program’s fine print suggests it may not be as lucrative for whistleblowers as it appears at first blush.Continue Reading New DOJ Antitrust Postal Whistleblower Rewards Program: A Look Under the Shiny Hood

As we predicted before the inauguration, Trump 2.0 antitrust enforcers have shown continued support for the pro-worker, anti-tech antitrust agenda that has permeated recent antitrust enforcement through the last two administration changes. This time around, President Trump appointed competition agency leaders in Chair Ferguson at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and AAG Slater at the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) who identify with a brand of conservative populism coalescing around many of the same policies and priorities as Biden-appointed competition leaders like FTC Chair Lina Khan. For example, since the inauguration, antitrust agencies under their leadership have forged on with antitrust cases against Big Tech, backed the Biden-era revisions to the merger and labor guidelines, and doubled down on efforts to use antitrust laws to protect American workers.Continue Reading Red Tape Rollback: DOJ’s Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force

Four days before President Trump took office, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) (together, “the Agencies”) under the Biden administration released their “Antitrust Guidelines for Business Activities Affecting Workers” (“The Guidelines”). These Guidelines replace and expand upon antitrust guidance for HR professionals that the Obama administration issued in 2016. The new Guidelines aim to clarify how the DOJ and FTC “identify and assess business practices affecting workers that may violate the antitrust laws.”Continue Reading DOJ and FTC Issue Antitrust Guidelines for Business Activities Affecting Workers

What antitrust enforcement will look like during a second Trump administration is, like antitrust law, complicated. Notions that Republicans are pro-business and therefore will take a laissez-faire approach to antitrust enforcement are outdated and simplistic. During Trump’s first term, antitrust enforcement was far from moribund, blending traditional Republican preferences for deregulation with a populist skepticism toward Big Tech and market concentration generally. This anomalistic meeting of progressive Democrats and conservative Republicans in the antitrust space even garnered a mash-up moniker – the “Khanservaties” – a group of conservative Republicans including Missouri Senator Josh Hawley and erstwhile Attorney General nominee and former Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, who praised Biden-appointed Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance also provided backhanded praise for Khan, stating, “I look at Lina Khan as one of the few people in the Biden administration that I think is doing a pretty good job.” Continue Reading Antitrust During Trump 2.0: It’s Complicated

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (“Antitrust Division”) recently updated its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs in Criminal Antitrust Investigations guidance document (“Antitrust Compliance Guidance”). Corporate counsel and compliance officers should seriously consider these updates when crafting and implementing an antitrust compliance program.Continue Reading Key Takeaways from the DOJ Antitrust Division’s Updated Compliance Guidance: It’s Not Just Criminal Anymore

Leading up to the U.S. presidential election this November, our Antitrust & Competition team continues to offer insights into what antitrust enforcement may look like under the next presidential administration. As we look forward to the next four years, we should also look back on antitrust enforcement under previous recent administrations. Much has been made of the more aggressive and public stance on antitrust enforcement under the Biden administration. The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division (the “DOJ”) (together the “Agencies”) have put forth several significant policy changes and proposed rules, including new merger guidelines and a proposed ban on noncompetes. All that said, at least some of the data may indicate a less radical change in antitrust enforcement under Biden as compared to Trump than the conventional wisdom suggests.Continue Reading Antitrust Under Biden: Taking a Closer Look at the Numbers

Yesterday, August 28th, the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (the “DOJ”) (the “Antitrust Agencies”), together with the Department of Labor (the “DOL”) and National Labor Relations Board (the “NLRB”), signed a new agreement (the Memorandum of Understanding or “MOU”) that seeks to enhance the ability of the FTC and DOJ to investigate the impact of mergers and acquisitions on labor markets.Continue Reading U.S. Federal Antitrust Agencies Announce Cooperation Initiative with Labor Agencies in Merger Review

On June 6, 2024, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that he led a multistate coalition of eleven (11) state attorneys general in in submitting a comment letter (the “Comment Letter”) in response to the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (together the “Agencies”) request for information regarding consolidation in healthcare by private equity. On March 5, 2024, the Agencies issued a “Request for Information on Consolidation in Healthcare Markets,” on the same day the Agencies hosted a public workshop regarding the impact of private equity investment in the healthcare system. Continue Reading California Attorney General Advocates for Greater Antitrust Enforcement in Private Equity in Healthcare