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• SUSPICIOUS SETTLEMENTS. AG Pam Bondi’s DOJ unexpectedly settled two antitrust lawsuits. In August, DOJ let UnitedHealth Group (UHG) acquire Amedisys, combining the two largest U.S. home health and hospice providers. This followed a settlement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to acquire rival wireless network provider Juniper Networks, though the DOJ just filed the case on January 30^th. After being fired, former Principal Deputy AAG Roger Alford suggested Bondi’s staff, specifically Chief of Staff, Chad Mizelle, and Counsel, Stanley Woodward, pushed for settlements after meeting with the merging companies’ MAGA-allied lobbyists. Sen. Blumenthal (D-CT) and Rep. Raskin (D-MD-08) both led Democrats in urging the court to reject the HPE-Juniper settlement under the Tunney Act. Economic Liberties echoed that call. The HPE comment deadline has passed, but UHG comments are due October 13^th. Meanwhile, Mizelle has now resigned, and Woodward awaits a Senate vote to become #3 at DOJ.

Reining in Big Tech 

• AMAZON DUCKS ACCOUNTABILITY. Over 160M people in the U.S. use Amazon Prime. In 2023, former Chair Khan’s FTC sued Amazon for using “dark patterns,” to trick millions of consumers into Prime subscriptions, then making it difficult to cancel. This week, just days after trial started, Andrew Ferguson’s FTC settled for $2.5B, or 0.4% of the tech giant’s annual revenue, and without any admission of liability by the company or its executives. Combined with a court’s overturning of Khan’s Click-to Cancel rule and no sign Ferguson plans to re-introduce, it appears Amazon will not have to make any significant changes. It remains unclear if Ferguson’s FTC will show similar leniency in Amazon’s antitrust case set to begin trial next fall. And FYI, most consumers eligible for settlement payments will get them automatically.
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• GOOGLE SEARCH REMEDIES THAT WEREN’T. Last year, federal district court judge, Amit Mehta, found Google guilty of illegally monopolizing the internet search market, prompting an additional process to remedy the monopoly, which could have resulted in a break up. Instead, this month Judge Mehta ignored SCOTUS precedent and ordered modest remedies, leaving Google’s search monopoly mostly intact. Specifically, under the order, Google can keep the Chrome browser and keep cutting $20B deals with companies like Apple to be the default engine on their devices. Judge Mehta did, however, bar Google from contracts as Android’s default search provider for six years, and will force the Big Tech giant to share some of its data with search competitors. Though they will likely appeal, Mehta’s decision was seen as a Google victory. At first, AAG Slater praised her team for the remedies, but they might also appeal. Former AAG Jonathan Kanter’s New York Times op-ed detailed the harms the weak remedies pose to consumers, competition, and the future digital economy. DOJ’s second antitrust case against Google for monopolizing the online advertising market kicked off the remedies phase the last week of September. Join Economic Liberties this Thursday, October 2nd from 2:00-3:00pm ET for private, virtual hill briefing on the recent judicial remedies and potential legislative action in United States v. Google.

Media

• MEDIA MERGERS ABOUND. In August, the FCC approved Skydance Media’s $8B acquisition of Paramount, owner of CBS. Shortly before, CBS cancelled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Colbert had criticized Paramount for settling President Trump’s case over 60 Minutes‘ edit of an interview with Kamala Harris ahead of last year’s election. Trump donor Larry Ellison’s son is Paramount Skydance’s CEO and former Trump DOJ antitrust head, Makim Delrahim, just became head of legal, as the new media juggernaut looks to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery and further consolidate streaming platforms. On the broadcast front, Nexstar Media Group, the nation’s largest owner of 200 local TV stations, is trying to acquire TEGNA’s 64 stations, pending FCC approval. Over 20,000 people have signed a petition urging the FCC to block the deal. Watch Economic Liberties‘ Matt Stoller on MSNBC discussing the link between media consolidation and threats to democracy.

Building Worker Power

• NCAA PUSHES FOR ANTITRUST IMMUNITY. SCOTUS’s 2021 NCAA v. Alston decision rejected the idea that the NCAA has antitrust immunity and allowed student athletes to earn compensation for their name, image, and likeness (NIL). This June, however, the NCAA reached a settlement with students in House v. NCAA that allows for NIL compensation caps. Likely because of this legal ambiguity, the NCAA and the largest conferences are spending $15 million in lobbying to gain more certain immunity through Congress. In July, Rep. Bilirakis (R-FL-12), Rep. Figures (D-AL-02) and other bipartisan members introduced the SCORE Act to do just that. The legislation would also severely limit student-athletes’ legal protections by granting the NCAA broad immunity from NIL-related lawsuits for a decade. Read more about the SCORE Act here.
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• NONCOMPETE BACKTRACK. Nearly one-in-five Americans are covered by noncompete agreements—contracts that limit post-employment options for workers—stifling entrepreneurship, business growth, and wages. In 2024, after receiving over 25,000 public comments, the FTC finalized a rule to promote competition for workers and ban the practice. Despite claims he supports workers, Chair Ferguson announced the FTC will no longer defend the noncompete rule in court, and instead issued a public inquiry to get more information. The FTC did sue to ban a PE-owned pet crematorium firm from using noncompetes. FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter dissented, criticizing Ferguson’s failure to address structural competition concerns in the market.

Airlines

• SURVEILLANCE PRICING IN THE SKIES? Before departing, former Chair Khan released a surveillance pricing study on how corporations exploit user data to hike prices in various markets. Delta Air Lines announced this summer it would expand use of an AI model to set individualized ticket prices. In response, Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ,) Warner (D-VA,) and Blumenthal (D-CT) demanded clarity on how Delta might use consumer data and price discrimination, but the airline giant denied such intentions. DOT Secretary Sean Duffy also pledged to investigate cases of personalized pricing, and Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX-35) introduced a bill to ban the practice, and on a recent Senate Antitrust Subcommittee hearing, featuring Economic Liberties’ Senior Fellow Bill Mcgee, Sen. Hawley (R-MO) pushed a big airlines lobbyist to support a ban.
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• PASSENGER PROTECTION ROLLBACKS. Last year, former DOT Secretary Buttigieg began an effort to expand airline passenger rights, including rulemaking requiring mandatory cash refunds for canceled flights and that families sit together. So far, current Secretary Duffy has launched an RFI to identify regulations that hinder competition, and the largest airlines’ lobbying group, Airlines for America (A4A), suggested a plethora of rollbacks, including the mandatory refund and family seating rules. Duffy’s recently filed agenda suggests he likely will heed to A4A’s wish list, a move Buttigieg said put corporations over consumers.

Improving Health Care

• BIG DENTISTRY MAKES MIDWEST MOVES. Increasingly, dentists are moving from independent practices to larger groups often affiliated with dental service organizations (DSOs), entities skirting bans on the corporate practice of medicine. Delta Dental of Wisconsin (DDWI,) is attempting to finalize an acquisition of one such PE-backed DSO in Wisconsin, Cherry Tree Dental. Delta Dental, DDWI’s parent company, provides over a quarter of dental insurance nationally. Economic Liberties and the Alliance of Independent Dentists sent a letter urging FTC and the Wisconsin AG to investigate the deal for harming patients and independent practices. The American Dental Association also raised concerns that the deal creates conflicts of interest that could harm patients. The WI Commissioner of Insurance will hold a hearing on the deal October 2^nd.
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• MEMBERS CALL FOR HEALTHCARE BREAK UP. Big health insurers increasingly own physician practices directly. For example, UnitedHealth Group (UHG) through its subsidiary, Optum, has now become the largest U.S. physician employer, reducing quality of care. In response, Congressman Pat Ryan (D-NY-18) launched an inquiry and received thousands of comments from constituents about Optum after they acquired over 2,500 practices in his district. Now, Reps. Ryan and Hoyle (D-OR-04) and Senators Jeff Merkely (D-OR) and Warren (D-MA) introduced the Patients over Profits Act, to ban health insurance companies in Medicare from owning providers. This is the second federal structural separation bill, the main policy demand of Economic Liberties‘ Break Up Big Medicine initiative.

Rethink Trade

• STEEP MANUFACTURING JOB LOSSES. Despite President Trump’s promises that his new tariff regime would bring domestic jobs and factories “roaring back,” manufacturing indicators suggest otherwise. As of August, the U.S. has lost 38,000 manufacturing jobs so far this year. Instead of using tariffs to target the few dozen countries that are the main contributors to the United States’ massive trade imbalance and deindustrialization, the administration has used tariff threats to pressure countries to drop privacy, anti-monopoly, and other regulations reining in technology companies.
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• TARIFFS CASE HITS SCOTUS. Earlier this year, several businesses and 12 states sued the Trump Administration over its use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose wide-ranging tariffs on nearly every country in the world. After the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on August 29 that IEEPA does not allow President Trump’s reciprocal and fentanyl-related tariffs, the administration appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court just set unusually speedy oral arguments on November 5. Check out Rethink Trade’s brief on the issue here.

Merger Boom

• RAILROAD BARONS AT WORK. Since the industry deregulated in the 1980s, the number of major U.S. railroads has declined from 30 to four. Now two of those remaining are trying to merge. Union Pacific agreed to buy Norfolk Southern for $85B. If approved, the combination would create the first trans-continental railroad, combining over 50,000 miles of rails across 43 states. Transport Workers Union, with a combined 155,000 members, opposed the deal citing worker safety concerns. Shippers also oppose, fearing that further rail consolidation would raise prices and worsen the quality of service. SMART-TD, the largest rail union, originally opposed, but later backtracked after receiving promises of lifetime job guarantees. President Trump has signaled support and Surface Transportation Board (STB) Chair Fuchs, the agency with merger review jurisdiction, previously expressed interest in further consolidation. Meanwhile, President Trump has attempted to fire STB Board Member Robert Primus, who had opposed the Canadian Pacific’s 2023 acquisition of Kansas City Southern Railroad, citing competition concerns. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) urged STB to scrutinize whether the transaction would increase prices for shippers and reduce service quality and reliability.
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• PE’s FIRE TRUCK PRICE HIKES. After the 2008 financial crisis, PE quietly rolled up the firetruck manufacturing industry. Now two companies, REV Group and Oshkosh, control almost 70%, leading to price hikes, years-long delays for new vehicles and repairs, and endangering first responders. For example, over half of Los Angeles’ aging fire truck fleet was out of commission during this year’s wild fires. Some cities are fighting back. In August, the city of La Crosse, Wisconsin, sued Oshkosh and REV Group for antitrust violations. The lawsuit follows a letter from Economic Liberties and the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) urging DOJ and FTC to investigate industry consolidation, and Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA-03)’s amendment instructing the FTC to investigate industry consolidation. And this month, Senator Hawley (R-MO) held a hearing calling for REV and Oshkosh to end any anticompetitive practices.
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• LANDLORD PRICE FIXING CHECKED. Last year, a DOJ lawsuit revealed that America’s largest landlords were colluding with a third party data platform, RealPage, to price fix rent across the country, raising rent for millions of single and multifamily dwellings. In August, DOJ proposed a settlement with Greystar, the largest U.S. landlord with nearly a million housing units, to ban it from using RealPage. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) praised the DOJ’s settlement, and reiterated the need for her legislation, the Preventing Algorithmic Collusion Act. At the state level, Nevada AG Aaron Ford recently settled with RealPage to ban the software for rental properties.
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• FTC V. TICKETMASTER. Scalpers and bots account for up to 95% of traffic on ticketing websites like Ticketmaster, and raise prices by as much as 7,000% on the resale market. An FTC lawsuit, joined by bipartisan state AGs, including Florida and Illinois, alleged Ticketmaster was aware of, allowed, and assisted scalpers and bots to bypass ticket sale limits in violation of the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act. The lawsuit also alleged Live Nation-Ticketmaster tacked on deceptive junk fees, costing music fans an additional $16 billion between 2019-2024. The Break Up Ticketmaster Coalition praised the lawsuit, but still urged Trump’s DOJ to pursue their antitrust case to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster. Meanwhile, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino, whose yearly compensation packages exceed $100M, claimed concert tickets are underpriced during a CNBC event.

ICYMI

• Representative Josh Riley (D-NY-19) introduced the Keep the Lights Local Act to ban foreign corporations from owning American utility companies.
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• Rep. Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14) sent a letter urging NY state’s utility regulator to reject electricity and gas rate increases.
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• SCOTUS allowed Trump to fire Democratic FTC Commissioner Slaughter, overturning nearly a century of limitations on executive power over independent agencies.
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• CVS’s PBM, Caremark, was fined $290M for Medicare fraud.
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• A Florida judge dismissed a Newsmax lawsuit alleging Fox News used anticompetitive tactics to maintain its dominance in Republican news, but noted Newsmax can refile.
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• A new study revealed the media repeatedly downplays corporate greed in reporting on price increases.
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• Senators Wyden (D-OR) and Warren (D-MA) pressed UnitedHealth Group on predatory loan collection for loans made to healthcare providers after the 2024 cyber-attack on its Change Healthcare payment network.
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• UFCW Western State Council honored former FTC Chair Lina Khan with the Person of the Year Award.
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• A district judge stopped an Arkansas law to ban PBMs from owning pharmacies from taking effect.
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• Institute for Local Self Reliance intervened to unseal documents in the FTC’s case to drop its Robinson-Patman Act lawsuit against PepsiCo.
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• Colorado AG Weiser sued PetSmart for using TRAPS, a form of noncompete, on pet groomers.
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• Figma, a tech start-up, went public on the New York Stock Exchange and ended its first day of trading with a market cap of over $67B – more than triple what Adobe had tried to purchase the company for before the acquisition unraveled under scrutiny by the DOJ.
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• Dish Network is abandoning its 2019 promises it made to the DOJ and FCC to build out a nationwide wireless network to compete against Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile.