{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://nolan.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/house-democrats-take-issue-with-big-mergers", "House Democrats Take Issue With Big Mergers", "2017-12-07", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "MN", "Rick Nolan", "N000127", "nolan.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "A bill that would direct antitrust agencies to study the impact of mergers marks the first legislative step of the newly-formed House Antitrust Caucus and underscores how cracking down on corporate consolidation is a growing issue for congressional Democrats.\nThe effort comes in the wake of major mergers, like Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market Inc., that some advocates said would hurt workers and competition.\nThe legislation, which doesn\u2019t yet have a bill number, was introduced Dec. 4 by seven Democrats. It would require the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice to assess a merger\u2019s effect on price and quality of products, along with job cuts and pay. It\u2019s intended to \u201ccurb the harmful effects of corporate monopolization on working people,\u201d said the bill\u2019s lead sponsor, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), in a statement.\nEllison is also deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and the bill is likely to function as a campaign tool as well as an attempt to amend antitrust law. So far, the measure has no Republican cosponsors. Even if it doesn\u2019t go anywhere, Democrats can point to it as an effort to address their constituents\u2019 concerns about big companies.\nThe other sponsors are David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Rick Nolan (D-Minn.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), and Ra\u00fal Grijalva (D-Ariz.).\n Five Mergers a Year \nThe bill would require the FTC and the DOJ antitrust division to select at least five mergers a year for analysis.\nAntitrust officials already conduct merger retrospectives, but their analyses are narrowly targeted on price effects and quality and don\u2019t focus on factors like salaries and job losses.\nThe bill would require the regulators\u2019 reviews to also take into account the effectiveness of divestitures or other remedies, facility closures and job cuts resulting from the merger, any changes in employee salaries, and the deal\u2019s impact on investment in research and development. Those results also would be made public under the bill.\nSome of the sponsors are also members of the House Antitrust Caucus, which was formed in October to educate members and staff about competition policy. The caucus intends to set up briefings on competition issues with experts, according to aides. More legislation is likely to come, they said.\n\u201cWe\u2019ve got to fight against these endless mergers which put a huge amount of power into the hands of a few corporations and economically disenfranchise the American people,\u201d Nolan, co-chair of the caucus, said in a statement provided to Bloomberg Law. \u201cThat\u2019s why the Antitrust Caucus was founded.\u201d\nCicilline, who also is the lead Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee\u2019s antitrust subcommittee, plans to put forth his own bill to modernize antitrust laws. The lawmaker told Bloomberg Law in an earlier interview that measure will likely be introduced sometime next year.\nCicilline and Ellison co-hosted an event earlier this year with public interest advocates to discuss \u201ccompetition and corporate power.\u201d Later this month, the caucus will host another event on concentration in the digital economy. It will examine how the dominance of a few companies in the technology sector is affecting innovation and entrepreneurship.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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://nolan.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/house-democrats-take-issue-with-big-mergers"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6864040624350309, "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"}