Today, President Biden unveiled his $7.3 trillion proposed fiscal year 2025 budget to fund the government, including efforts to bolster the nation’s antitrust enforcement within the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice. The FY24 Congressional Appropriations proposal drastically cut the estimated Antitrust budget by 20 percent and undermined the ability of the agency to access the funds collected from merger filing fees. Public Knowledge commends the White House for fighting to equip the Justice Department with the tools it needs to increase competition and reduce consumer prices.
The following can be attributed to Elise Phillips, Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge:
“The White House budget proposal for FY25 restores the Antitrust Division’s resources removed by Congressional appropriators that allow the DOJ to do its job: promote market competition, drive down consumer costs, and raise wages for American workers. The proposal also rightly preserves the filing fees collected in excess of the budget for future use by the Division. This language is consistent with the spirit of the recently passed, bipartisan ‘Merger Filing Fees Modernization Act,’ which was designed to provide the Division with additional necessary resources at no further cost to the taxpayer.
“Unfortunately, this is something the latest appropriations draft for FY24, the current fiscal year, fails to do. With a 20 percent slash to the Division’s budget, and a mischaracterization of the Division as solely a ‘fee-funded’ agency, the FY24 budget diverts essential funds away from antitrust enforcement, placing its current, monumental antitrust cases at immediate risk. Congress must act now to strike the harmful FY24 language and give the Justice Department the resources it needs.”
You may view a joint letter by public interest groups urging Congress and the Biden administration to provide enforcement agencies – including the Department of Justice – with the resources they need for the remainder of FY24.
Members of the media may contact Communications Director Shiva Stella with inquiries, interview requests, or to join the Public Knowledge press list at shiva@publicknowledge.org or 405-249-9435.