2020 Horizontal Merger Guidelines

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Stop Rubber-Stamping Corporate Mergers

AKA “Scrap Woke Merger Meddling”


Which agency/agencies promulgated the regulation? *
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division
Which title, parts, and/or sections of the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) should be rescinded? *
None directly—this is an interpretive rule. The 2020 Horizontal Merger Guidelines are not codified in the CFR but are used to inform agency decision-making and court deference.
What is your name?
—OPTIONAL--
Is your proposed rescission a notice of proposed rulemaking, final rule, direct final rule, interim final rule, or interpretive rule? *
Interpretive Rule
What is the name of the regulation being rescinded, if applicable? *
2020 Horizontal Merger Guidelines
Please provide a short summary of the justifications for the rescission. *
The 2020 Guidelines weakened antitrust enforcement by demanding speculative, data-heavy projections of consumer harm before blocking mergers—even when structural market dominance was obvious. This deregulatory shift enabled waves of consolidation across agriculture, airlines, tech, and healthcare. Rescinding the 2020 version would restore regulators’ ability to act preemptively when market concentration poses a clear threat.
Please insert the address of the agency. [NPRM, DFR, and IFR only]
Federal Trade Commission 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20580
Please insert the contact information for the agency. *
FTC Office of Policy Planning – (202) 326-2045 DOJ Antitrust Division – (202) 514-2481
What is the background for the regulation being rescinded? *
The DOJ and FTC have jointly issued merger guidelines since 1968. The 2020 revision—under the Trump administration—prioritized short-term consumer price effects over long-term market health, labor impacts, and innovation. It narrowed the interpretation of “harm to competition,” making it harder for agencies to block mergers unless they could produce intricate economic modeling to satisfy judges deferential to corporate defendants.
Explain the reasons for the rescission. *
The 2020 guidelines effectively legalized monopoly by ignoring structural indicators like market share, barriers to entry, and consolidation trends. As a result, dominant firms faced fewer constraints, and markets grew more concentrated—especially in meatpacking, broadband, healthcare, and tech. Rescinding these guidelines would free agencies to challenge mergers based on actual market dynamics, not theoretical price models.
Describe the text of the relevant C.F.R. provisions as it will exist after the rescission. *
Not applicable—this is a rescission of nonbinding guidance, not a CFR change. However, the rescission should be accompanied by a return to—or strengthening of—the 2010 Merger Guidelines, which better accounted for structural market harms and potential coordination.
Please insert the name of the current agency head. *
Andrew Ferguson
Please insert the title of the agency head. *
Chair, Federal Trade Commission

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