On Feb. 4, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice unexpectedly issued a joint statement announcing the temporary suspension of early merger clearances under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) review process. Before this suspension, HSR filings that posed no competition concerns were routinely granted early termination and did not wait for the full 30-day period. The only prior official pauses in early termination occurred during government shutdowns, and from March 13, 2020 until March 20, 2020, when the Premerger Notification Office switched to an electronic filing system in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.