"The FTC and DOJ face strong opposition not only to their efforts to redo the merger guidelines, but also criticism of [FTC Chair] Khan for having 'repeatedly left minority commissioners in the dark about agency action until shortly before the time to vote and limited the time for public input on proposed actions,' the Committee for Justice said. 'On a matter as consequential as shaping the antitrust agencies’ guidelines for merger analysis, this concerning trend cannot continue.'
The group took issue with changes to rules on market definition and nascent competition and said the goal of antitrust is consumer welfare. 'Asking the question whether it is necessary to define a market brings us back to the logic in [the 1966 Supreme Court case] United States v. Pabst Brewing Company that was completely at odds with settled opinion that one must define a relevant geographic market to have an antitrust case,' the submission said."