Democrats are rushing to pass terrible pet projects before losing control of the House of Representatives. Activists are calling on lawmakers to pass various antitrust bills that would give unelected Biden administration bureaucrats new power to control the economy. Republican lawmakers should delay consideration of any antitrust legislation until they have more leverage in the 118th Congress.
Antitrust law has been around since the late 1800s. It allows the government to step in if bureaucrats believe there isn’t enough competition in a market. For the first eight decades it was in force, politicians and judges used antitrust to bushwhack companies they believed were “too big.” Conservative judge Robert Bork traced the legislative history and determined that antitrust law was designed to protect consumers from harm, a theory he called the “consumer welfare standard.” The Supreme Court adopted the consumer welfare standard in the late 1970s, and antitrust law has been narrowly focused on protecting consumers since then.
But now left-wing lawmakers are pushing a slate of antitrust bills that would obliterate the consumer welfare standard in favor of a European-style regime. These proposals run the gamut from bad to worse.
The American Innovation and Choice Online Act would ban a host of routine business activity for companies above a government-determined size. The Open App Markets Act would give bureaucrats power over how app stores are designed. The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act would create legacy media cartels that box conservative and independent outlets out of negotiations with Big Tech.
A few Republicans have joined these efforts out of legitimate concern with Big Tech censorship of Conservatives online. While understandable, these lawmakers should understand that Democrats would never agree to legislation that would improve free speech. Just look at the Left’s completely unhinged reaction to Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover. These people are not on our team.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is pushing these half-baked bills to prove that she is activist enough to run for president (again). Any Republican who votes for these bills is thus making a de facto campaign contribution to Klobuchar’s 2024 campaign. The Left’s ultimate goal is to use antitrust law to force companies to fly the woke flag. If bureaucrats don’t have to prove that a company is harming consumers, they can use antitrust to go after a company for not doing enough to address various woke hobby horses.
We don’t have to guess here — Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter has called for using antitrust to advance a “diversity, inclusion, and anti-racist” agenda. This is “go woke or go broke” with the full force of the federal government. Conservatives know that these antitrust proposals are Big Government Trojan horses. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) has consistently blasted the Left’s various antitrust schemes. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) has similarly warned against giving bureaucrats new power over the economy.
Democrats have tried to ram these bills through the lame-duck Congress by hook or by crook. Last week, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) blocked a bill that would have shoveled hundreds of millions in new resources to the ultra-woke antitrust agencies. Democrats tried to attach the JCPA to the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act, only to back out at the last minute thanks to intense Conservative opposition.
Progressives will surely continue to try and pass sweeping antitrust bills during the lame duck, either through fast-track Senate procedures or by attaching them to an end-of-year spending vehicle. Conservatives should continue to block these attempts whenever they occur.
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Grover Norquist is president of Americans for Tax Reform, a taxpayer advocacy group that supports limited government and free-market policies.
