January 17, 2025

Wyden, Colleagues Reintroduce Bill to Promote Competition and Improve Antitrust Enforcement

 

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Ron Wyden said today he has joined Senate colleagues in reintroducing legislation that would reinvigorate America’s antitrust laws and restore competition to American markets. 

The Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act would give federal enforcers the resources they need to uphold the law, strengthen prohibitions on anticompetitive conduct and mergers, and make additional reforms to improve enforcement. 

“The effects of mega-mergers are felt far and wide, and it is absolutely essential that corporations are playing by the rules to ensure consumers are not hurt by such deals,” Wyden said. “Mega-mergers like the proposed Kroger-Albertsons deal are now dead but others can keep emerging that reduce competitiveness in American industries and choice from consumers. I am dedicated to ensuring that corporations are held responsible, and that Oregonians are not left behind because of shady business deals.” 

U.S. antitrust law enforcement against powerful firms has lagged behind efforts in other developed countries, particularly when it comes to enforcement against the dominant digital platforms and other large corporations. To remedy these issues, the Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act would:

  • Increase enforcement resources by authorizing increases to each agency’s annual budget and ensuring enforcers retain all fees generated from mergers for enforcement work.

  • Strengthen prohibitions against anticompetitive mergers by updating the legal standard for permissible mergers, and shift the burden to the merging parties to prove their merger will not violate the law. 

  • Prevent harmful dominant firm conduct by prohibiting “exclusionary conduct” (conduct that materially disadvantages competitors or limits their opportunity to compete) that presents an “appreciable risk of harming competition.”

  • Establish a new FTC division to conduct market studies and merger retrospectives.

  • Implement additional reforms to seek civil fines for antitrust violations, study the effect of past mergers, strengthen whistleblower protections, forbid forced arbitration in class action lawsuits and more.

The bill was led by U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. Along with Wyden, the bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, Peter Welch, D-Vt., Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Tina Smith, D-Minn., and Mark Warner, D-Va.