After Weak Live Nation-Ticketmaster Antitrust Deal, Blumenthal & Murphy Join Legislation to Ensure Settlements Benefit Consumers, Workers, & Small Businesses—Not Special Interests

[Hartford, CT] - Today, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) joined the Antitrust Accountability and Transparency Act to strengthen review of antitrust settlements and ensure they protect consumers, workers, and small businesses.

This legislation, led by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is cosponsored by Blumenthal and Murphy, as well as Senate Judiciary Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Peter Welch (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

"This bill helps safeguard the integrity of antitrust enforcement, so often sacrificed under Trump," said Senator Blumenthal. "It gives consumers, workers and small businesses a voice and place in antitrust discussions, so their interests aren't eclipsed by big corporations. The Trump Administration has corruptly favored businesses that serve the President's interests over proper enforcement of antitrust laws-leading to higher prices for consumers and lower wages for workers, all in the interest of political favors and patronage. The Antitrust Accountability and Transparency Act empowers courts to ensure settlements are consistent with the purpose of antitrust laws-lowering prices, increasing choice, and protecting workers."

"President Trump lets corporate monopolies jack up prices on Americans, and all they have to do is pay off his inner circle for a sweetheart settlement that lets them keep breaking our antitrust laws," said Senator Murphy. "Our bill cracks down on these corrupt backroom deals to enforce the law and hold corporations accountable."

"When the government prosecutes antitrust violations, the goal should be to uphold the law, lower prices, and protect consumers and small businesses. In the recent settlement between the Department of Justice and Live Nation, it is clear the American people got the raw end of the deal. This bill-which has support from antitrust enforcers from both sides of the aisle-ensures that courts have the tools to independently review settlements and approve only those that benefit the American people," said Senator Klobuchar.

"Strengthening our antitrust laws to put consumers and competition first must be a priority," said Senator Durbin. "As the Trump Administration continues to undermine antitrust enforcement, our bill provides much needed reforms to protect our workers and ensure transparency."

"The enforcement of our antitrust laws should protect consumers, workers, and small businesses, not allow powerful corporations with the best lobbyists to get off with a slap on the wrist. Amid reports of the Trump Administration's backroom deals and favoritism for the politically connected, it's time to strengthen transparency and oversight to ensure the Department of Justice is pursuing settlements in Americans' interests," said Senator Booker. "This legislation puts teeth into the review process so that courts, state attorneys general, and the public have a stronger role in scrutinizing settlements rather than merely deferring to a government that is looking out for the well-connected and powerful corporations, not everyday Americans."

"When there's a bad merger deal, it's consumers and small businesses who foot the bill-facing higher prices and fewer choices as a result," said Senator Welch. "Any backdoor corporate settlement needs to face real scrutiny before it's allowed to move forward. We need stronger antitrust laws that protect hardworking families."

"Robust antitrust enforcement is critical to preventing massive corporations from further stacking the deck against working people and small businesses. For too long, these mega corporations have been allowed to consolidate market power without legally required public-input. By increasing transparency in merger settlements and creating stronger review processes for antitrust cases, the Antitrust Accountability and Transparency Act will help ensure antitrust laws are actually enforced as Congress intended to protect consumers," said Senator Hirono.

"Under Donald Trump, antitrust enforcement has become a growing cesspool of corruption. Giant mergers look like the newest way for Donald Trump to play political favorites while slashing choices and jacking up prices for Americans. This bill will protect consumers and workers by making sure the government doesn't let giant companies like Ticketmaster or HPE off the hook based on influence-peddling," said Senator Warren.

The Antitrust Accountability and Transparency Act protects consumers, workers, and the integrity of antitrust enforcement by making the following reforms to the Tunney Act:

• Apply Review to the Federal Trade Commission. Currently, the Tunney Act applies only to the Justice Department. This made sense when the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was led by a truly bipartisan, independent Commission with removal protections. But with the firing of FTC commissioners, the time is ripe to extend Tunney Act review to the FTC;

• Bolster disclosure requirements. The Act requires (1) the government to explain how the proposed settlement remedies antitrust issues; (2) the government to disclose previous settlement offers and the process for reviewing those offers; (3) the disclosure of side-deals not included in the four corners of a consent decree; and (4) the parties to disclose all communications related to the settlement.

• Hold-Separate Provisions. Currently, after a settlement courts may move forward with a merger by combining assets before courts finish reviewing a settlement. Once this occurs, courts are frequently reluctant to order parties to "unscramble an egg" even if a settlement is problematic because doing so is costly and disruptive. To remedy this without creating undue delays for businesses, the Act creates a hold-separate requirement for up to 90 days to allow the court to review public comments and government responses. A court may allow the hold-separate period to lapse or, upon showing the settlement may pose problems, extend the hold-separate order as necessary.

• Strengthen Court Review. In addition to the public interest standard, the Act also requires courts to ensure the settlement terms (1) do not pose a material risk of allowing a merger or other business conduct to continue that threatens to violate the antitrust laws; and (2) are reasonably related to the antitrust concerns, preventing the government from using antitrust as leverage in others, unrelated matters. Courts are also required to base their decisions on reasoned analysis and evidence, and need not defer to the government.

• Empower State Attorneys General. The bill empowers state attorneys general by allowing them to intervene in Tunney Act hearings as a matter of right rather than spending their limited resources fighting to have a court even consider their perspective.

• Voluntary Dismissals. Currently, there is no review process for voluntary dismissals. Where the federal government chooses to voluntarily dismiss a case (rather than settling), the Act creates a process by which state attorneys general can step into the shoes of the federal government and continue the case.

Companion legislation is being led in the House by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.-08), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee.

The bill is endorsed by Jonathan Kanter (former Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust), Bill Baer (former Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust), Roger Alford (Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust under President Trump); Tim Wu (Former White House as special assistant to the president for technology and competition policy) Randy Stutz (President of the American Antitrust Institute), Bill Kovacic (former Republican Chair of the FTC), Gene Kimmelman (former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust), John Newman (Former Deputy Director, Federal Trade Commission), Professor Darren Bush, Public Knowledge, Open Markets Institute, and the American Economic Liberties Project.

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