President Biden has prioritized antitrust enforcement since the beginning of his term. He appointed progressive enforcers, Lina Khan and Jonathan Kanter, to positions in the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), respectively, and on July 9, 2021, he issued the Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy. Exec. Order No. 14,036, Fed. Reg. 36,987 (July 9, 2021). In the Executive Order, President Biden stated that “robust competition is critical to preserving America’s role as the world’s leading economy.” Id. at 36,987. He criticized consolidation and called upon the various executive departments and agencies to protect competition by exercising their regulatory authority with the ultimate goal of lowering consumer prices. Id. at 36,987-36,989.

President Biden recently renewed his focus on antitrust enforcement following the release of an October 2021 Consumer Price Index Report that showed 6.2% year-over-year inflation. Consumer Price Index Summary News Release, U.S. Bureau of Lab. Stat. (last modified Nov. 10, 2021). On Nov. 10, 2021, in response to the report, the President stated “[i]nflation hurts Americans[’] pocketbooks, and reversing this trend is a top priority for me.” Presidential Statement on the National Economy, 2021 Daily Comp. Pres. Doc. 943 (Nov. 10, 2021). Emphasizing that the magnitude of the reported price increases was largely caused by rising energy costs, the President directed the National Economic Council to pursue means to reduce the costs of natural gas and asked the FTC to “strike back at any market manipulation or price gouging in this sector.” Id.

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