Overview

• President Trump formally revoked Executive Order 14036, ending the Biden administration’s coordinated effort to tackle industry concentration and market power.
• The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division welcomed the move and unveiled its “America First Antitrust” agenda focused on free-market remedies over prescriptive regulations.
• Antitrust officials said they will streamline merger reviews under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act by reinstating early terminations in uncontroversial cases and favoring narrow consent decrees.
• Former Biden competition director Hannah Garden-Monheit and consumer groups warned that the revocation abandons safeguards for small businesses and workers and cited a June analysis estimating at least $18 billion in extra costs to consumers.
• The executive order clarifies that existing statutory antitrust authorities remain intact and will be implemented in accordance with law and appropriations despite the shift in administrative priorities.