GOP FTC Commissioner Says She’d Consider Undoing Merger Guidance

Republican Federal Trade Commissioner Melissa Holyoak said she’d consider repealing a Biden administration overhaul of guidelines used to determine whether a corporate acquisition breaks competition law.

Holyoak, who joined the commission after the 2023 policy was adopted, said her concerns stem in part from the guidance’s downplaying of the role economics plays in analyzing mergers and acquisitions.

She also claimed the guidelines cite “a lot of old case law,” which, while still precedential, offers an incomplete picture of the way courts have more recently looked at antitrust questions.

“I do have a lot of concerns about those guidelines,” Holyoak said ...