President Donald Trump’s early executive orders have not specifically called out antitrust enforcement, but several impact antitrust agencies and could influence antitrust policy and enforcement over the next four years.
New HSR rules have become effective despite the regulatory freeze. President Trump’s January 20, 2025, “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review” memorandum urges federal agencies to “consider postponing for 60 days … any rules that have been published in the Federal Register, or any rules that have been issued in any manner but have not taken effect.” This order did not impact the new Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) rules that became effective on February 10, 2025. As we have previously discussed, the new rules will significantly increase the burden and information requirements associated with preparing HSR filings. Instituting a 60-day freeze per President Trump’s order would likely require the vote of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which will continue to be comprised of two Republican and two Democrat commissioners until President Trump’s nominee to the commission, Mark Meador, is confirmed. Further, there has been no public indication from the FTC or Department of Justice (DOJ) that the new HSR rules will be changed. The new administration is, however, likely to revisit the rules, which took over a year to finalize.
Hiring freeze could affect antitrust resources. On January 20, 2025, President Trump ordered a freeze on the hiring of federal civilian employees across all executive agencies and instructed the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to, within 90 days, submit a plan to reduce the size of the federal government’s workforce. The freeze impacts hiring at both the FTC and the DOJ’s Antitrust Division and is likely to have resource implications, as both agencies remain highly active in conduct and merger investigations and litigation. In addition, changes to the HSR rules will require a substantial increase in the information and documents required in U.S. merger filings, creating new burdens for not only filing parties but also the antitrust agencies that will review them.
DEI order impacts antitrust agencies. In response to President Trump’s executive orders aimed at ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the federal government (see our DEI analysis), newly appointed FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson announced that he had taken a number of actions, including closing the agency’s DEI office, terminating its Diversity Council, removing DEI materials from the FTC website and ordering reviews or audits of agency contracts, programs and orders. Chairman Ferguson acknowledged that changing certain FTC directives and documents, such as its Strategic Plan, are not necessarily within the chairman’s existing authority and requested the commission to delegate authority to the chairman to comply with the executive order. On January 23, 2025, the FTC approved — by a vote of 2-1-2, with Commissioners Rebecca K. Slaughter and Lina Khan not participating and Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya voting against — a motion to delegate this authority to Chairman Ferguson.
Potential implications for artificial intelligence (AI). President Trump’s Executive Order 14179, “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence,” calls for the development of an AI action plan within 180 days. (See our AI analysis.) The resulting plan has the potential to influence antitrust policy and enforcement in the AI sector. Just last year, in July 2024, the DOJ, FTC and key international enforcers issued a “Joint Statement on AI Competition Issues” that outlined enforcement priorities for AI, but it remains to be seen how the Trump administration’s antitrust enforcers will approach such joint cooperation efforts with foreign regulators in relation to AI, particularly in light of the executive order designed to enhance the position of the U.S. on the global stage. Notably, in November 2024, the DOJ proposed a remedy in its ongoing litigation against Google’s search business that Google be required to notify the DOJ of any investments in or acquisitions of certain AI products. It will be important to monitor how the AI executive order impacts the approach antitrust authorities adopt in investigations and enforcement related to AI.
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