Conservatives Call to Give Justice Department Antitrust Division ‘Fighting Chance’ with Fee-Based Funding

Conservatives and activists have urged appropriations leaders to back a change in the next funding bill that would give the Justice Department Antitrust Division a “fighting chance” and have it remain as the top “watchdog” for antitrust and anticompetitive practices.

Reps. Jodey Arrington (R-TX) and Jay Obernolte (R-CA) wrote in a letter, which was obtained by Breitbart News, to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK), Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-ME), and their Democrat counterparts asking that in the Fiscal Year 2026 Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) Appropriations Bills, that they grant the Justice Department Antitrust Division full access to the estimated fees collected from the Merger Filing Fees.

“As you may know, the funding requests for the Antitrust Division are well below the funding level needed to carry out sufficient and responsible antitrust enforcement, especially against monopolies with essentially bottomless coffers,” the House conservatives wrote.

They added, “To give the agency a fighting chance, DOJ needs significant resources to ensure our markets are free and open for all Americans.”

Obernolte and Arrington noted that, in 2022, Congress passed the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act to update the fee structure to ensure that the Department of Justice has the funds necessary to carry out its consumer protection mission.

Roughly two-thirds of the Justice Department Antitrust Division’s funding comes from premerger filing fees paid by companies planning to merge.

The lawmakers continued, “Congress sought to ensure our top market watchdog had the necessary funding to carry out antitrust enforcement, while not overburdening small businesses or utilizing taxpayer dollars. This is good policy and a commonsense solution to this problem.”

Obernolte and Arrington noted that granting full access to the estimated fees from the Merger Filing Fees would serve as a taxpayer-friendly solution to funding the Antitrust Division:

However, we are concerned the current funding levels for the Antitrust Division do not reflect Congressional intent as articulated in the Act. Specifically, as requested above, we ask that you make clear that DOJ has full access to the estimated fees collected from the Merger Filing Fees to carry out antitrust enforcement. This clarification better aligns with the Act’s intent to ensure the Antitrust Division is fully fee-funded with no financial burden borne on hardworking
taxpayers.

Evan Swartztrauber, a senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation (FAI), in early May led a coalition letter from notable conservative and other bipartisan activist leaders calling to give the Antitrust Division full access to these merger filing fees.

“These fees enable vital antitrust and law enforcement efforts that have enjoyed widespread, bipartisan support across administrations,” the coalition wrote.

The coalition also noted that the increased funding would give the Division more funding to fight against the behemoths across American industry, including big tech:

In a time of political division, antitrust enforcement has enjoyed widespread, bipartisan support across administrations—the cases against Google’s search and advertising technology monopolies, and the case against Apple’s app store, started and continued under bipartisan presidencies. This level of continuity is extraordinary in today’s Washington, and is enabled by the DoJ’s access to the fees it needs to litigate.

Congress recognized that the Department was a David facing multiple Goliaths, particularly in these cases against Big Tech. That’s why lawmakers in the 117th Congress passed the bipartisan Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022 (the Act) to ensure that the DoJ had the resources it needed to take on companies that can hire every white-shoe law firm in the world.

“In the Act, Congress understood the importance of strong antitrust enforcement while creating a funding mechanism that wouldn’t burden hardworking Americans. Today’s appropriators should simply carry that forward,” they added.

“Increased competition is in the best interest of consumers and the economy. Congress has already taken critical, bipartisan action to address the lack of resources for antitrust enforcement. The Division’s funding structure should reflect the work of our colleagues on this issue,” the lawmakers concluded in their letter to congressional appropriators.

Chairs Cole and Collins have yet to respond to a request for comment from Breitbart News.