In a new article for RealClearMarkets, Market Institute President Charles Sauer examines how the Trump administration’s new antitrust leadership team—Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Andrew Ferguson and Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division head Gail Slater—has shifted course from the Biden-era’s aggressive anti-merger stance. But while the shift away from the neo-Brandeisian approach is welcome, Sauer warns that Ferguson and Slater’s version of “MAGA antitrust” still leaves room for concern.
“Chair Ferguson and Deputy AG Slater announced that they would retain the 2023 ‘revised’ merger guidelines. Those guidelines justified expansive use of antitrust policy to block almost any merger or acquisition for almost any reason.”
Despite this initial red flag, recent actions by the FTC and DOJ suggest a return to common sense:
“In one week the FTC and the Justice Department approved three transactions with a combined worth of over $63 billion… Under Ferguson’s leadership, the FTC staff has returned to the pre-Biden practice of trying to speed up review and approval of mergers and acquisitions.”
The article highlights a positive return to using settlements—rather than outright blocks—to resolve competitive concerns, such as in the case of Hewlett-Packard’s acquisition of Juniper Networks. Yet Sauer expresses concern over the use of antitrust to police political views in advertising:
“The FTC reached a settlement allowing advertising agency Omnicom to complete its $13.5 billion acquisition… as long as the companies agreed to not allow ‘political’ considerations to influence where they place their clients’ ads.”
Sauer argues that punishing companies for political or cultural preferences—whether left-leaning or right-leaning—is a dangerous misuse of regulatory power. While the rollback of Biden-era enforcement is commendable, Sauer concludes with a warning:
“Supporters of free markets and limited constitutional government can only give at most two cheers for MAGA antitrust.”
