WASHINGTON — Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, issued the following statement on the release of new merger guidelines from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Justice Department:
“As Chair of the Progressive Caucus and a member of the Subcommittee on Antitrust, I am thrilled to see the new merger guidelines from the FTC and Justice Department.
“The multifaceted approach, which takes into consideration terms of employment and platforms in addition to price competition, will ensure that federal agencies are taking a holistic view of companies during merger requests. The guidelines define new forms of anticompetitive abuse, including vertical integration and serial acquisitions by hedge funds and take worker impact into consideration. These moves demonstrate a real understanding of what anticompetitive behavior looks like in today’s economy, as well as a meaningful commitment to fairness and justice for working people. They will also be essential to protect small businesses, ensuring their ability to thrive and compete against large corporations, and consumers, ensuring businesses cannot simply acquire their competition away but rather are forced to compete for customers with fair pricing.
“These new merger guidelines also build on impressive moves from the antitrust agencies, including the FTC’s rule to ban non-compete agreements across industries and President Biden’s executive orders to promote competition and to take on price gouging in the meat industry. I applaud Attorney General Garland, Chair Khan, and Assistant Attorney General Kanter for their dedicated and principled leadership. Progressives have long advocated for antitrust reform across our economy, including in our 2023 Executive Action Agenda, to hold corporations accountable, raise wages, and lower costs — and this guidance does just that. I look forward to continuing to work together to hold corporations accountable and empower workers.”
