DOJ Launches Task Force to Identify and Eliminate Anticompetitive Laws and Regulations
On March 27, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it was launching an Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force, whose stated purpose is to advocate for the elimination of anticompetitive state and federal laws and regulations that undermine free market competition and harm consumers, workers and businesses.
According to the accompanying press release, the Task Force will “surge resources to these efforts and invite public comments to support the Trump Administration’s mission to unwind laws and regulations that hinder business dynamism and make markets less competitive.”
The announcement of the Task Force comes on the heels of President Trump having previously signed Executive Order 14219, which directed agencies to initiate a process to review all regulations and identify those that, among other things, impose undue burdens on small businesses and impede private enterprise and entrepreneurship.
According to the press release, the Task Force will take aim at regulations that “serve the few” and harm competition and hurt consumers, workers and businesses by increasing compliance costs and preventing small businesses from competing on a level playing field with powerful corporations and by discouraging or prohibiting small businesses and new products from entering markets and lowering prices.
Regulatory Concerns in Health Care
In the health care world, both hospitals and physicians have shown concern about regulatory requirements that significantly increase costs and unnecessarily interfere with patient care and access to care.
By way of example, the Medical Group Management Association publishes an annual regulatory burdens report in which it identifies regulatory rules which member physicians believe are overly complex and burdensome adding cost to the delivery of services and thereby reducing the ability of physicians to serve Medicare and Medicaid patients while not improving the quality of patient care. These include, among others, regulations pertaining to the Merit-based Incentive Payment System and Advanced Alternative Payment Models.
Similarly, the American Hospital Association has identified regulations which it considers administratively burdensome and costly and which result in inefficiencies, while at the same time producing little or no added value to patient access, quality and safety.
Public Comment
As a first step, the DOJ’s Antitrust Division is seeking information from the public to identify unnecessary laws and regulations that raise the highest barriers to competition, paying particular attention to housing, transportation, food and agriculture, health care and energy.
Housing: Laws and regulations in housing markets that make it more difficult for companies to build and for people to rent or buy.
Transportation: Laws and regulations in areas like airlines, rail and ocean shipping that grant antitrust immunities, outright monopolies or safe harbors for conduct that undermines competition.
Food and Agriculture: Anticompetitive regulations that impede food production.
Health Care: Laws and regulations that discourage doctors and hospitals from providing low-cost, high-quality health care and “instead encourage overbilling and consolidation.”
Energy: Laws and regulations that undermine reliability and affordability by protecting incumbent electricity providers from competition or disruptive innovation.
The public has been given 60 days (no later than May 26) to submit comments (docket no. ATR-2025-0001).
