DOGE and Modernized Antitrust Enforcement
By Paul Steidler: In order for the savings and benefits of DOGE to be realized to the greatest and longest extent possible, legislation is essential.
DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, is, by definition, about efficiency. As such, legislation eliminating unnecessary government programs while consolidating others is the best way to arrest out-of-control government spending and contain it for years. Otherwise, the wasteful expenditures and silly ideas are more likely to spring back with a vengeance.
A clear illustration is the One Agency Act, legislation that would consolidate the antitrust litigation operations of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) into those of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DoJ’s) Antitrust Division. Turf battles between agencies would end.
The FTC’s antitrust expertise would be transferred to the DoJ. A DoJ official, either the head of the antitrust division or the Attorney General, would decide who would be sued rather than through a protracted committee process.
In adopting such a system, the U.S. would become like every other advanced country in the world: having one national entity that enforces antitrust laws.
Representative Ben Cline introduced the One Agency Act in the U.S. House of Representatives in the last session of Congress. On a bipartisan basis, it cleared the House Judiciary Committee by a 16-7 vote on April 16, 2024.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan was preparing for another committee vote on the measure this April 30 to incorporate it into the reconciliation package. Elon Musk, who had previously met with Representative Cline, also tweeted his support.
Based on comments from Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), who has introduced similar legislation in the Senate, Chairman Jordan decided to withdraw the bill out of concerns the Senate Parliamentarian would rule it non-germane and thereby add an impediment to passage of the reconciliation package.
Soon after Congress addresses the reconciliation package, the House Judiciary Committee should regroup and pass the One Agency Act as stand-alone legislation as it did on April 16, 2024. That would send an important message that Congress is focused and serious about getting our fiscal house in order and that commonsense proposals to restructure government will be enacted.