Washington, D.C. — In response to news that the House Judiciary markup of the Republican mega bill would transfer the antitrust capacity of the Federal Trade Commission to the Department of Justice—effectively repealing the government’s authority to police unfair methods of competition, which is exclusive to the FTC, and leaving AG Pam Bondi to decide the fate of ongoing FTC antitrust cases, including a high-profile case against the “Big Three” pharmacy benefit managers—the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.

“This change isn’t just a shift of some seating charts in D.C., it would curtail key parts of antitrust enforcement and potentially jeopardize the FTC’s ongoing case against PBMs and parts of its case against Amazon,” said Matt Stoller, Research Director at the American Economic Liberties Project. “Folding the FTC’s antitrust capacity into the DOJ would effectively repeal Section 5 of the FTC Act, which gives the FTC alone the authority to police unfair methods of competition—authority it has used to ban coercive noncompete agreements, to sue the big pharmacy benefit managers Caremark, Express Scripts, and UnitedHealth’s OptumRx that are jacking up drug prices, and to target parts of Amazon’s business that unfairly raise prices to consumers. While the bill language theoretically gives the DOJ the ability to continue transferred FTC cases, the DOJ has no authority to pursue cases under Section 5 and this legislation doesn’t give it to them.”

“In short,” Stoller added, “Jim Jordan and House Judiciary Republicans are directly undermining both current and future litigation against the monopolies that gouge and censor Americans.”

Beyond placing FTC antitrust personnel, funding, and office space under the DOJ’s control, the markup states that “FTC antitrust actions that were initiated by the FTC and were unresolved as of the first day of the transition period” shall be “continued as the Attorney General determines is appropriate.” Other aspects of the FTC’s work seemingly placed under the Attorney General’s authority are consent orders, administrative enforcement, investigative studies, and more.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.