In the first major initiative of the Antitrust Division within the Trump Administration’s Department of Justice, the DOJ announced on March 28, 2025 the creation of a task force to “advocate for the elimination of anticompetitive state and federal laws and regulations that undermine free market competition and harm consumers, workers, and businesses.” Citing President Trump’s Executive Order 14219, which mandated such reviews, the DOJ’s announcement called out for special scrutiny the “regulatory capture” of agencies by “special interests and big businesses” in five economic sectors: housing, transportation, food and agriculture, healthcare, and energy.
As its first step, the task force is seeking public comment identifying “unnecessary laws and regulations that raise the highest barriers to competition.” The public will have 60 days to submit comments at www.Regulations.gov, Docket No. ATR-2025-0001. The task force will also convene expert working groups to identify and eliminate such laws and regulations, and will continue its practice of filing amicus briefs and statements of interest in private litigation that advance its goals in this regard.
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