Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Lou Correa (D-CA) are teaming up to undercut one of the most obscure yet critical moves against corporate power.

The Biden administration’s aggressive set of antitrust enforcers have created powerful enemies: in big business, in media, in academia, and in Washington. For the most part, the main antagonists of the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division have been Republicans, though there are a few Khanservatives. But now, pro-corporate Democrats are getting in on the act, targeting an obscure but critical policy designed to give enforcers the information they need to judge proposed corporate mergers.

  • rigatti@lemmy.worldEnglish
    14·
    7 months ago

    Here’s a very relevant portion of the article:

    A former investment banker and real estate broker who was endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2022, Correa represents the heavily Latino community of Santa Ana, as well as Anaheim, home of the Disneyland theme park. The district is 65 percent Latino. But Correa really is a representative of the California delegation, which has a significant role on the Antitrust Subcommittee with four Democratic seats. The delegation, led by senior Democrat and Silicon Valley Rep. Zoe Lofgren, is strongly pro–Big Tech, and opposed to stronger antitrust enforcement more generally. Not only did Correa oppose the tech antitrust bills in the last Congress, he voted against increasing merger filing fees and devoting more resources to the FTC and DOJ, a bill that eventually passed Congress.