No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes new antitrust enforcement requirements under section 7B of the Clayton Act for transactions consummated during the covered period of January 20, 2025, through January 19, 2029. For threshold transactions valued at $10 billion or more, the section requires parties to complete divestiture if already consummated or to hold assets separate pending agency review if not yet consummated, unless a district court grants an exemption upon a showing that the transaction produced no post-merger HHI above 1,800, no HHI increase above 100, no market share above 30 percent, no material deviations from pre-merger price or quality representations, no output reductions, no employment reductions inconsistent with agency representations, full compliance with any divestiture conditions, and no pro bono legal services by counsel involved in the transaction. State attorneys general have an unconditional right to intervene in exemption proceedings. The section also authorizes the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, Federal Communications Commission, Department of Transportation, Surface Transportation Board, or any state attorney general to review any enforcement-lapse transaction (i.e., any non-threshold transaction) for evidence of statutory violations, disregarded staff recommendations, skipped second-request investigations, improper ex parte communications, material misrepresentations, or statements by the President or Cabinet officials favoring a particular outcome.
This section provides a severability clause ensuring that if any provision of the Act, an amendment made by the Act, or the application of such provision or amendment to any person or circumstance is held unconstitutional, the remainder of the Act and amendments shall remain in effect.