The Justice Department announced the launch of the Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force to implement President Trump’s executive orders on “unnecessary regulatory burdens” and direct a review of all federal regulations to identify those that “impose undue burdens on small businesses and impede private enterprise and entrepreneurship.” The Task Force will be led by the Department’s Antitrust Division and will “support federal agencies’ deregulatory initiatives by sharing its market expertise on regulations that pose the greatest barriers to economic growth.”
As a first step, the Antitrust Division initiated a public inquiry to identify unnecessary laws and regulations that raise the highest barriers to competition, with a focus on housing, transportation, food and agriculture, healthcare, and energy. Comments are due by May 26, 2025 and can be submitted here using Docket No. ATR-2025-0001. DOJ further states that it will “bring together attorneys, economists, and other staff from across the Division, together with interagency partners, to identify state and federal laws and regulations that unnecessarily harm competition. The Antitrust Division will then take appropriate action, including helping agencies revise or eliminate these regulations.”