Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act of 2025
Sponsored By: Senator Amy Klobuchar
Introduced
Summary
tighten antitrust enforcement by raising merger standards and expanding agency tools to stop exclusionary conduct and monopsony harms. It would raise penalties, build FTC data and advocacy offices, and strengthen whistleblower rules.
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- Consumers and workers: Consumers could see better choice and quality because the law treats non-price harms as anticompetitive. Workers gain protection because the bill explicitly targets monopsony power that can lower wages.
- Businesses and mergers: Mergers face a stricter test that bars deals creating an "appreciable risk" of materially lessening competition and shifts the burden to merging parties for many large or concentrated deals. The bill flags big transactions with triggers such as a $5 billion voting/assets threshold and requires annual post-merger reports for five years.
- Enforcement, penalties, and whistleblowers: The Federal Trade Commission would get a Market Analysis and Data office, an Office of the Competition Advocate, subpoena powers, and expanded litigation authority. Civil penalties for exclusionary conduct and Sherman Act violations can reach 15% or 30% of revenues, and the bill adds whistleblower protections plus criminal whistleblower awards.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 2 costs, 1 mixed.
New whistleblower awards and office
If enacted, people who voluntarily give original tips that lead to criminal antitrust fines could get awards. Awards would apply when collected fines exceed $1 million and range from 10% to 30% of the collected fine. The FTC would also get a Competition Advocate office to gather consumer, worker, and small business reports and, after findings, compel company reports and pass evidence to the Justice Department.
Much higher fines for companies
If enacted, firms that violate core antitrust rules could face much larger civil or criminal fines. Penalties would be the greater of 15% of a firm's U.S. revenues last year or 30% of revenues in the affected business line during the unlawful conduct. The Federal Trade Commission would also be authorized to bring civil suits to recover these penalties and agencies must publish joint penalty guidelines within one year.
Tougher merger tests and reports
If enacted, the bill would lower the legal test for blocking deals and add monopsony risk to merger review. Deals meeting dollar tests would trigger enhanced scrutiny: one test at $5 billion in voting securities/assets and an alternative test involving parties over $100 billion plus a $50 million voting-asset trigger (all adjusted annually after Sept. 30, 2025). Parties who settle reportable acquisitions would file yearly public reports for five years and the FTC would create an office and public databases to track market concentration and merger effects.
Easier court wins for plaintiffs
If enacted, courts and the FTC could find antitrust liability without defining a detailed market when direct evidence shows harm. The bill would also add a statutory market-power definition and narrow when courts may find implied antitrust immunity from federal regulation. Private plaintiffs could recover treble damages and simple prejudgment interest from the date the antitrust complaint was served until judgment.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Amy Klobuchar
MN • D
Cosponsors
Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI]
RI • D
Sponsored 1/16/2025
Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]
CT • D
Sponsored 1/16/2025
Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ]
NJ • D
Sponsored 1/16/2025
Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI]
HI • D
Sponsored 1/16/2025
Peter Welch
VT • D
Sponsored 1/16/2025
Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM]
NM • D
Sponsored 1/16/2025
Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA]
MA • D
Sponsored 1/16/2025
Sen. Murphy, Christopher [D-CT]
CT • D
Sponsored 1/16/2025
Sen. Smith, Tina [D-MN]
MN • D
Sponsored 1/16/2025
Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO]
CO • D
Sponsored 1/16/2025
Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI]
HI • D
Sponsored 1/16/2025
Sen. Warner, Mark R. [D-VA]
VA • D
Sponsored 1/16/2025
Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
OR • D
Sponsored 1/16/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov