- A group of 19 Democratic AGs submitted a comment letter to the DOJ and the FTC in support of the agencies’ efforts to strengthen the Merger Guidelines, the standards used to determine whether mergers and acquisitions comply with federal antitrust law.
- The comment letter provides the AGs’ perspectives as co-enforcers of the country’s antitrust laws, and expresses concern that years of permissive merger enforcement may have contributed to consolidation in many sectors and hindered innovation and competition. The AGs commend the agencies on revising the Merger Guidelines to reflect current economic realities, while offering suggestions on areas for clarification to facilitate better understanding by the public and enforcement entities.
- A separate comment letter was sent by 15 of the AGs in support of the agencies’ decision to expressly state in the revisions to the Merger Guidelines that antitrust laws protect competition in labor markets.