RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Admin

• SCOTUS: INDEPENDENT AGENCY FOR WALL STREET BUT NOT FOR THEE. Early in his second term, Trump fired both Democratic FTC Commissioners, Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter, claiming their work was “inconsistent” with the FTC’s duties. They sued, citing Humphrey’s Executor, a 90-year-old SCOTUS precedent that limits the President’s ability to fire independent agency commissioners. Last month, SCOTUS overturned that decision and exempted the Federal Reserve, implying independence is important for financial market regulation but not others. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) warned the decision greenlights further corruption from the Trump Administration that has used executive agencies to reward friends and donors. In a piece with Roosevelt Institution and Protect Borrowers, Economic Liberties’ Executive Director Nidhi Hegde called for judicial reform, including term limits, to rein in this corporate-friendly SCOTUS, a point Alvaro Bedoya reiterated on MSNow.

Airlines

• SPIRIT WORKERS AND CUSTOMERS LEFT OUT TO DRY.  Spirit Airlines shut down operations in early May after fuel prices spiked from the Iran War. Spirit’s CEO previously received a $2.9M bonus to direct the wind down, while flight attendants are still waiting for backpay, despite assurances of support from Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) joined a rally with the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, demanding Spirit employees get paid. Customers are also managing the fallout. Sec. Duffy encouraged credit card companies to issue refunds, which Rep. Jayapal (D-WA) noted would have been automatic if the Trump DOT hadn’t gutted a Biden era rule guaranteeing automatic refunds.  In a recent House Judiciary Committee Antitrust Subcommittee hearing, Reps. Chuy Garcia (D-IL) and Becca Balint (D-VT) also highlighted how spirit’s failure demonstrates problems stemming from unchecked airline consolidation. Read more in Economic Liberties’ and Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator’s How to Fix Flying.

Reining in Big Tech 

• WASHINGTON’S AI SHUFFLE.  As AI investment is projected to hit trillions of dollars, investors and consumers are increasingly concerned these bets may not pay off or justify the risks. Policymakers are responding in a variety of ways. Though scaled back after industry pushback, President Trump issued an executive order requesting AI companies voluntarily share new models for national security and cybersecurity review 30 days before release, and last month, the White House asked OpenAI to limit its GPT 5.6 model release due to national security vulnerabilities. The EO follows the White House ordering Anthropic to stop foreign nationals from using their most advanced models. The Ferguson FTC also released a proposed policy statement warning AI companies that models addressing potential algorithmic bias could violate Section 5 of the FTC Act regardless of “anti-innovation” state laws, in line with the corporate AI playbook to try to preempt state regulation. On the Hill, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) proposed an excise tax on data centers to ensure AI profits benefit all Americans. Separately, Sen. Bernie Sanders proposed that the U.S. government hold a 50% equity stake in large AI businesses as a sovereign wealth fund, paying dividends to Americans. President Trump has also suggested he’s exploring the idea of government equity stakes. Meanwhile, in The New York Times, former Biden economic advisor Jen Harris warns the AI rush could limit investment to meet critical needs like housing.
  ‌
• DOJ PUSHES CORRUPT TICKETMASTER SETTLEMENT. Before a jury delivered a guilty verdict in the state AGs’ case against Live Nation/Ticketmaster, Trump’s DOJ settled under corrupt circumstances, including a meeting between President Trump and Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino per the company’s own disclosure to the court. In late June, they doubled down, submitting a Competitive Impact Statement to the federal court detailing the proposed settlement that will leave Live Nation’s monopoly untouched. Under the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act (the “Tunney Act”), anyone can submit comments on the proposed settlement to the DOJ by September 4.

Improving Health Care

• COALITION LAUNCHES TO BREAK UP BIG MEDICINE. The U.S. spends $5.3 trillion on healthcare, while patient outcomes worsen and costs rise. Behind the crisis is a highly consolidated, vertically and horizontally integrated industry that harms patients, workers, and clinicians. Last month, the American Economic Liberties Project and The Century Foundation gathered the newly launched Break Up Big Medicine Coalition to discuss ways to address the Big Medicine problem, including the Break Up Big Medicine Act. At the event, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) discussed her Take Back Our Hospitals Act to ban PE in hospitals and nursing homes, and in a fireside chat Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) covered his newly introduced Medicare Cost Cap Act to cap out-of-pocket traditional Medicare costs at $5,000. Check out a full recording of the event and read more about our “Treatment Plan” of solutions for Big Medicine.

Promoting National Security

• NDAA MAKES WAY FOR RIGHT TO REPAIR? Roughly 80% of Democrat, Republican, and Independent voters support allowing the military to repair its own equipment. The Government Accountability Office found that weapons operation and sustainment – the costs associated with repair – account for roughly 70% of total weapons systems cost. In May, the House Armed Services Committee adopted Reps. Maggie Goodlander’s (D-NH) and Pat Harrigan’s (R-N.C.) right to repair amendment during the markup of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA,) closing a loophole that defense manufacturers exploited to avoid providing the Defense Department with maintenance information, technical data, and computer software needed to make repairs. The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) also included similarly strong right to repair language in its version of the NDAA. SASC’s NDAA bill also includes a provision that could bar some defense contractors from stock buybacks or paying dividends unless approved by the Department of Defense. That measure was approved on an 18-9 vote.

Media

• PARAMOUNT NEARLY CLOSES THE DEAL. Upon blessing the Paramount-Warner Bros.-Discover (WBD) merger,  DOJ Antitrust took the unusual step of issuing a statement explaining why, claiming the deal would increase competition and benefit American consumers and workers. Per The Wall Street Journal, the announcement surprised DOJ lawyers who were leaning towards blocking it. The Monopoly Busters Caucus criticized the decision, citing harms like worse content quality, and Democratic Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) wrote FCC Chair Brendan Carr with concerns about Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds’ significant ownership stakes in Paramount-WBD’s cable and broadcast television stations, since the FCC could still block. California AG Bonta has said his office will do “whatever it takes” to prevent an illegal merger, and its unclear whether European regulators will approve. Oregon AG Rayfield is also planning to ask a court to pause the acquisition. Meanwhile, Hollywood writers, content creators, workers, and small businesses joined Economic Liberties Senior Advisor Alvaro Bedoya and members like Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), for a Main Street v. The Merger national tour, sharing how Paramount-WBD would ruin their livelihoods. A day after DOJ approval, Acting AG Todd Blanche and Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison attended the White House UFC fight–carried by streaming platform, Paramount+.
  ‌
• FCC SHOWS DISNEY THE PROCESS IS THE PUNISHMENT. The Federal Communications Commission issues licenses to broadcast television and radio stations that use the public’s airwaves. These license terms last eight years and are renewable. The FCC has not revoked a broadcast television license in more than 40 years. However, in April, the FCC took the unusual step of launching an early review of Disney’s eight ABC broadcast licenses (the licenses were originally up for renewal between 2028 and 2031) because of the company’s DEI practices. In response, ABC launched a campaign calling the FCC’s actions a threat to free speech. Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez decried FCC Chair Brendan Carr for weaponizing its license review process to censor companies disfavored by President Trump. In May, ten Senate Democrats, led by Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) called the FCC’s actions an “extraordinary abuse of power” and demanded Chair Carr rescind the early review. House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Reps. Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Yvette Clarke also sent a letter to the FCC accusing Chair Carr of undermining the FCC’s independence and eroding the public trust. So far, he has not responded. More than 82,000 comments have been filed thus far. Conservative groups have urged the FCC to revoke Disney’s licenses. Anyone can submit comments with the FCC here (referencing docket MB 26-131) through  August 5.

Merger Mix

• GLOBAL UTILITY GOLIATH.  Residential utility prices are up 33% since 2019, with most consumers accessing electricity through investor-owned utility monopolies. Now, two of the largest are looking to merge. In May, Florida-based NextEra Energy proposed to acquire Virginia’s Dominion Energy for $67 billion and create the world’s largest regulated utility, likely further driving up  rates for impacted customers throughout the South. In fact, NextEra’s subsidiary, Florida Light & Power, just received approval for the one of the largest rate hike in U.S. history – $7 billion – in November 2025. At the federal level, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission have review authority, and in late June, Senator Angus King (I-ME) called for FERC to block the merger. State regulatory commissions in Virginia and the Carolinas will also review, though many have deep ties to the utility industry. For example, the Virginia commission chair is a former NextEra lawyer, prompting calls for her recusal. Check out Economic Liberties’ Senior Fellow Marissa Gillet’s brief for more on why regulators must prove the merger is in the public’s interest.
  ‌
• RAIL MERGER HITS THE BRAKES. The $85B merger between Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS) – which would combine two of the four remaining Class I railroads and create the country’s first transcontinental railroad – has stalled again. The Surface Transportation Board (STB) accepted the parties’ revised merger application in May, but paused its review  to get more information from the railroads. Opposition is growing. Montana AG Knudsen led fellow Republican AGs in a letter urging STB to reject the merger application, arguing it still lacks information to evaluate competition and consumer impacts. Industry and labor stakeholders like the American Farm Bureau Federation and the Teamsters Rail Conference launched the Stop the Rail Merger Coalition. CSX, one of four remaining Class I railroads, also launched a website on the merger’s anticompetitive harms. President Trump expressed interest in taking a 15% federal stake in the merger, but the idea was rejected by Union Pacific’s CEO. The companies must submit a revised application to STB by the end of July.

Housing

• TRUMP FLIP FLOPS ON HOUSING. Institutional investors own over 30% of single-family homes in some U.S. metropolitan areas like Atlanta, driving up rents and reducing the supply of homes for sale. Last month, Congress passed the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act to facilitate more homebuilding and rein in institutional investors. Economic Liberties applauded the bill’s passage as a major step to address America’s housing crisis, but also urged Congress to do more to support small homebuilders and protect against financial speculation in land markets. President Trump canceled signing the bill calling it a “yawn” and pressuring Congress to pass a federal election overhaul bill, despite previously pushing for its passage. On June 29^th, Speaker Johnson sent the Road to Housing Act to the White House anyway, and after 10 days it will become law, even without President Trump’s signature.

Sports

• CONGRESS CAN’T QUIT THE NCAA. For decades, the NCAA and college athletic departments violated federal antitrust laws to restrict college athletes’ rights. Recently, courts have granted athletes the right to receive compensation. The SCORE Act would again immunize the NCAA from antitrust enforcement, but it stalled in the House after opposition from the Congressional Black Caucus, bipartisan state attorneys general, organized labor, and the American Association for Justice. Now in its place, the Senate Commerce Committee reported the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA) out on a 19-9 vote, with a majority of the Committee’s Democrats and two Republicans voting against it. While narrower than the SCORE Act, the PCSA still grants the NCAA broad antitrust exemptions to limit athlete compensation, eligibility, and transfers. The PCSA also expands the Sports Broadcasting Act to college sports, which would likely lead to higher streaming and cable bills for fans. The AFL-CIO Sports Council, college athlete groups, and Big Ten and Southeastern Conferences all oppose the PCSA, but, the Senate could choose to consider it during the July work period.
  ‌
• MOMENTUM AGAINST PE IN YOUTH SPORTS CONTINUES. Private equity ownership of youth sports is increasing costs and limiting opportunities for kids. Last December, the House Committee on Education and Workforce hosted an initial hearing about this problem, and in late June, they hosted a second focused on what to do about it. Economic Liberties’ Senior Legal Fellow Katie Van Dyck was a witness and explained the need for federal public investment in youth sports programs, and encouraged the passage of Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA) and Sen. Chris Murphy’s (D-CT) Let Kids Play Act, to keep PE firms out of youth sports and to stop their anticompetitive, predatory and exclusionary conduct. Read her full testimony here.

ICYMI

• President Trump plans to nominate Adam Candeub — Project 2025 contributor and current FCC General Counsel – to lead the DOJ Antitrust Division.
  ‌
• Advocates urged the Senate Agriculture Committee to oppose the Save Our Bacon Act, a bill that would preempt state laws that set standards for treatment of livestock. Small and mid-sized farmers have led the way in modernizing their operations to comply with this law.
  ‌
• The Century Foundation polling found an overwhelming majority of voters want Congress to stop hospitals from overcharging patients, ban surprise billing, and cap insurance company profits.
  ‌
• The Roosevelt Institute released the Good Life Agenda, which includes policy proposals to address corporate power and high levels of corporate consolidation by strengthening enforcement of antitrust laws and requiring structural separation of certain types of businesses to reduce conflicts of interest and self-dealing.
  ‌
• Kroger is proposing to purchase fellow large grocery chain Giant Eagle for $1.65 billion. Giant Eagle operates in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, and Indiana.
  ‌
• A new report from the Center for Law and the Economy at Columbia Law School and others finds employers are surveilling their workers to feed data to Big Tech companies, advertising platforms, and data brokers, and includes various legislative proposals to protect workers.
  ‌
• Average resale ticket prices for the NBA Finals were over $17,000 for Knicks-Spurs games earlier last month, following similarly high prices for the World Cup, US Open, and other sporting events.
  ‌
• Rural broadband, cable, wireless, and satellite companies push are pushing the FCC to unlock phones within 180 days of activation to improve consumer choice, competition, and affordability.
  ‌
• Senator Welch introduced legislation to support small dairy farmers’ ability to remain viable, compete against the largest dairy producers, and improve U.S. dairy supply chains.
  ‌
• FTC filed its opening brief in its appeal of a 2025 court opinion that Meta did not possess monopoly power in the personal social networking market.
  ‌
• CoStar, the largest commercial real estate listing platform, which controls 80% of the online commercial real estate listings, including Apartments.com and Homes.com, announced a proposed acquisition of Zonda, a home builder data collection company serving the largest builders and developers in the U.S.
  ‌
• More than 15 years after acquiring NBC Universal, Comcast announced it was splitting up the company, separating its broadband and technology business from the firm’s media assets like NBC, Universal Studios, and streaming service Peacock. Last year, Comcast spun off its cable television channels.
  ‌
• A Missouri farmer filed an objection to John Deere’s proposed $99M settlement to a class action right-to-repair lawsuit, claiming its proposal provides inadequate financial relief to farmers.