Taking Regulations to Task: DOJ Forms Task Force to Combat Anticompetitive Regulations

Embracing President Trump’s directive to deregulate the economy, the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division (DOJ) recently created an Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force (Task Force) to combat anticompetitive state and federal laws and regulations that hinder competition. The Task Force launch follows President Trump’s February 19, 2025 Executive Order 14219, which directed federal agencies to review all regulations and identify those imposing undue burdens on small businesses, private enterprise, and entrepreneurship. According to Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater, DOJ is committed to “unwinding burdensome regulations that stifle free market competition.”

The Task Force has established a website and currently is seeking public comment to help it identify laws and regulations that create barriers to competition. Comments can be submitted to www.regulations.gov (Docket No. ATR-2025-0001) and the deadline for submission is May 26, 2025. Although DOJ welcomes comments from any market participant, the announcement highlighted five industries of particular interest:

1. Housing. According to DOJ, laws and regulations in housing markets can contribute to affordability problems by making it more difficult for companies to build and for ordinary Americans to rent or buy.
2. Transportation. DOJ asserts that laws and regulations in the airline, rail, and similar sectors enable conduct that undermines competition and raises prices for Americans on travel, fuel, and other products.
3. Food and Agriculture. DOJ claims that farmers, growers, and ranchers will be able to increase production following the elimination of anticompetitive regulations, which in turn will lower food prices for American consumers.
4. Healthcare. According to DOJ, laws and regulations in healthcare markets can prevent low-cost, high-quality healthcare and make affordable healthcare unavailable for American families.
5. Energy. Finally, DOJ claims that laws and regulations undermine reliability and affordability in the energy sector by protecting incumbent electricity providers from competition and disruptive innovation.

In addition to soliciting input from the public, the Task Force will bring together DOJ attorneys, economists, and other staff to identify state and federal laws and regulations that harm competition. The Task Force will work with government agencies through DOJ’s competition advocacy program to revise or eliminate these regulations. The Task Force also will evaluate other avenues to support deregulatory initiatives, such as filing amicus briefs and statements of interest, or providing comments on proposed legislation. And although DOJ cannot enforce federal antitrust laws against anticompetitive state laws pursuant to the state action doctrine, DOJ’s announcement references the dormant Commerce Clause, which can provide the basis for a federal lawsuit against states.

For questions about antitrust enforcement or compliance, contact the authors or any of their colleagues in Arnold & Porter’s Antitrust/Competition or White Collar Defense & Investigations practice groups.

© Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP 2025 All Rights Reserved. This Blog post is intended to be a general summary of the law and does not constitute legal advice. You should consult with counsel to determine applicable legal requirements in a specific fact situation.