Department of Justice Antitrust Policy Reversal: Varney Formally Withdraws Monopolization Report

Christine Varney, the new head of the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice (DOJ), made clear at her confirmation hearing that the Antitrust Division is going to be more aggressive under her leadership, and cited monopolization as an area where she would break with Bush administration policies. True to her word, less than a month after her confirmation, Varney has formally withdrawn the DOJ’s report on monopolization.

The Antitrust Division issued the report to analyze enforcement policies under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, which addresses monopolization, in 2008. The report set out guidelines that the Division hoped would articulate “clear standards” so that companies would know when they could expect an enforcement action. In a rare split with the Antitrust Division, three of the four Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioners denounced the guidelines, calling them a “blueprint for radically weakened enforcement” of Section 2. With the formal withdrawal of the report by Varney, the FTC and DOJ are much closer to one another in their approaches to antitrust enforcement. Both are now likely to be substantially more aggressive than was the Bush administration.

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