Overview

• President Trump formally rescinded Executive Order 14036, rolling back the Biden administration’s coordinated competition framework across healthcare, tech, agriculture and labor sectors.
• The DOJ Antitrust Division endorsed the revocation as part of its new “America First Antitrust” philosophy that emphasizes free-market principles over prescriptive regulations.
• Merger review practices will change with the return of early terminations for uncontroversial Hart-Scott-Rodino filings and a preference for narrowly tailored consent decrees.
• The executive order’s language makes clear that agencies’ existing statutory antitrust powers remain intact and implementation must adhere to applicable laws and available appropriations.
• Critics including former Biden competition official Hannah Garden-Monheit argue the rollback abandons consumer, worker and small business protections and could raise costs by billions.