{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://balint.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=660", "Following DOJ Antitrust Shakeup, Balint, Warren, Lawmakers Raise Questions About Corruption Surrounding DOJ Approval of Massive Housing Merger", "2026-02-20", "2026", "2026-02", "Democrat", "House", "VT", "Becca Balint", "B001318", "balint.house.gov", "balint", "https://balint.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Representative Becca Balint (VT-AL) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led colleagues in pressing Attorney General Pam Bondi on whether there was corruption and political favoritism at the Department of Justice (DOJ) involving the agency\u2019s questionable review of the massive merger between real estate giants Compass and Anywhere Real Estate. The lawmakers\u2019 push follows the ouster of top DOJ antitrust official Gail Slater last week, raising questions about whether political interference is causing DOJ to stymie critical antitrust reviews of massive mergers that threaten to raise costs for consumers.\n\n\u201cThis decision raises questions about corruption under your watch and its impact on housing affordability for American families. Allowing this merger will make it easier for these firms to exert greater control over the real estate market, limit consumer access and choice, and ultimately exacerbate the housing crisis that has put homeownership out of reach for millions of Americans,\u201d wrote the lawmakers.\n\nThe letter was also signed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Representatives Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Greg Casar (D-Texas), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), Jes\u00fas \u201cChuy\u201d Garc\u00eda (D-Ill.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.).\n\nReal estate brokerage behemoths Compass and Anywhere announced a $1.6 billion merger in September of last year, subject to DOJ review. In a surprise move last month, Compass announced that it had completed its acquisition of Anywhere far ahead of schedule. The merger combines two of the nation\u2019s largest residential real-estate brokerages, creating the largest agent network in the country \u2014 and raising antitrust and competition concerns.\n\nWith a housing crisis already flattening American families under Donald Trump, further consolidation in the market threatens to make it even harder for consumers to afford homeownership. Mergers like Compass-Anywhere can push homeownership even further out of reach \u2014 making a thorough and serious DOJ review of the merger all the more critical.\n\nBut DOJ leadership \u2014 namely the office of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche \u2014 reportedly hindered the agency\u2019s antitrust review of the Compass-Anywhere merger, failing to protect Americans. Recent reporting revealed that DOJ Antitrust Division leadership, including recently-ousted Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater, sought an extended investigation of the transaction given concerns it might violate federal antitrust law, but senior DOJ leaders overrode Slater and cleared the transaction without additional review. This decision by DOJ leadership apparently came after Compass hired Mike Davis \u2014 a Trump-allied lawyer who has been involved in other merger review controversies. Reporting suggests that Davis was responsible for pushing the Compass-Anywhere review forward \u2014 and after Slater was forced out of DOJ, Davis bragged that he recommended her firing.\n\n\u201cThe fact pattern reported in the Compass-Anywhere deal is deeply disturbing, indicating that it may be another example of well-connected industries and lobbyists obtaining inside access to high-level Trump Administration DOJ officials, and using this access to pervert the antitrust process to obtain approval of anticompetitive mergers that will reduce competition and harm the public,\u201d wrote the lawmakers.\n\nThis isn\u2019t the first instance of apparent corruption under AG Bondi\u2019s watch at DOJ. In July, lawmakers sounded the alarm regarding DOJ\u2019s settlement of the Hewlett Packard-Juniper networks merger, after reports indicated that defendants retained lobbyists and consultants with ties to the Trump White House and DOJ leadership \u2014 resulting in the ouster of multiple of Slater\u2019s deputies. In December, lawmakers pressed Bondi to recuse herself from DOJ\u2019s review of any merger involving Warner Bros., given Bondi\u2019s own apparent conflicts of interest and the cloud of corruption at the DOJ. Earlier this week, Senator Warren joined colleagues in pressing Bondi on Slater\u2019s ouster, citing reports about Mike Davis\u2019s involvement and sounding the alarm about the Trump administration\u2019s commitment to enforcing antitrust laws.\n\n\u201cCorruption in this process could exacerbate the current housing crisis, under which foreclosures are up 26 percent and mortgage delinquencies are at a four-year-high, while also setting a dangerous precedent that invites political interference in merger review across industries and undermines the antitrust laws that Congress put in place to safeguard competition and protect Americans,\u201d wrote the lawmakers.\n\nTo ensure that the DOJ enforces antitrust law independently and fairly, the lawmakers pressed for more information about the agency\u2019s unusual approval of the Compass-Anywhere merger and requested answers by March 5, 2026.\n\nText of Letter (PDF)\n\n###", 1, "2026-04-04T05:28:40Z", "2026-04-06T21:03:58Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://balint.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=660"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9851888753473759, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}