WASHINGTON – Today, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Justice Department announced that they are temporarily suspending their practice of cutting short the statutory pre-merger waiting period due to a ‘historically unprecedented volume of filings.’ U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) released the following statement in response:

“The FTC and Justice Department’s announcement makes two things clear. First, as enforcers are having trouble even keeping up with incoming merger filings, the agencies need more resources and staff to effectively protect consumers and competition. Second, despite the pandemic, market consolidation is alive and well. We know that we can’t take on this problem with duct tape and band aids – we must ensure that enforcers at the FTC and Justice Department have the resources they need to tackle our competition problems. Today, I announced a bill that would do just that.”

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