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Attorneys General Challenge DOJ Settlement on HPE-Juniper Deal

By  |  September 7, 2025

A coalition of 20 state attorneys general, led by Colorado’s Phil Weiser, has urged a federal court to reconsider the U.S. Department of Justice’s decision to approve Hewlett-Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks, according to Reuters.

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    The group of Democratic attorneys general argued in a letter Friday that the settlement allowing the deal may have been shaped by inappropriate political pressure. Weiser warned that “if, upon exposing the settlement to sunlight, the evidence establishes that it was the product of undue influence, then the court should reject it as against the public interest.”

    The merger faced opposition earlier in the year. Shortly after former President Donald Trump took office, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit seeking to block the acquisition. At the time, antitrust officials contended the deal would drastically reduce competition, potentially leaving only two major companies — Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and Cisco Systems — with control over more than 70% of the U.S. networking equipment market, per Reuters.

    Related: Ex-DOJ Official Slams Leadership, Claims Lobbyists Warped Antitrust Enforcement

    Despite preparing for trial in San Jose, California, the DOJ in June agreed to settle. Under the terms, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise pledged to sell a business unit that serves small and mid-sized clients and to license certain Juniper artificial intelligence technologies to competitors. According to Reuters, that decision raised internal tensions, culminating in the dismissal of two DOJ antitrust officials who had signed off on the agreement.

    Roger Alford, one of those dismissed, later claimed in a speech that deputies of then-Attorney General Pam Bondi “perverted justice” and acted inconsistently with the rule of law in connection with the case. State attorneys general now argue that testimony from Alford, along with that of current DOJ officials and consultants linked to Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, should be heard by the court.

    Source: Reuters