Overview

• President Trump on August 13 revoked Executive Order 14036, ending the Biden administration’s whole-of-government competition framework.
• FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson and DOJ Antitrust leaders praised the repeal as a return to market-focused enforcement under existing antitrust laws.
• The Justice Department has resumed granting early Hart-Scott-Rodino Act review terminations and reinstated targeted consent decrees to streamline merger scrutiny.
• UnitedHealth Group’s $3.3 billion acquisition of Amedisys closed one day after the revocation, highlighting near-term acceleration in healthcare deals.
• Observers caution that while statutory antitrust statutes remain intact, merger outcomes may grow more unpredictable under the new market-oriented philosophy.