DOJ Introduces Faster Merger Review Process With Targeted Antitrust Requests

According to Reuters, the policy reflects the Trump administration’s broader effort to reduce regulatory burdens on businesses while continuing to enforce federal antitrust laws. The revised process is intended to streamline reviews for mergers that require additional scrutiny without immediately requiring companies to comply with expansive document requests that can take months to complete.

The DOJ’s Antitrust Division said it is returning to what it describes as a “targeted” approach to so-called Second Requests, the formal demands for additional information issued during reviews conducted under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. Rather than requiring full compliance at the outset, investigators may first focus on a narrower set of documents and information tied to the most significant competition concerns. After evaluating that material, the department may end the investigation, narrow the remaining requests, or require companies to provide the broader set of documents originally sought.

Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. said the revised process is intended to reduce unnecessary costs while allowing the department to concentrate investigative resources where they are most needed. In announcing the change, the DOJ said the approach should improve efficiency without limiting its ability to investigate mergers that could harm competition.

Merger reviews in the United States are jointly overseen by the DOJ and the Federal Trade Commission, with transactions above specified financial thresholds generally requiring advance notification under the HSR Act. When regulators identify potential competition concerns, they may issue a Second Request seeking internal documents, communications, and market data before deciding whether to challenge or clear a proposed transaction. Those requests have historically added months to regulatory reviews and significantly increased compliance costs for merging companies.

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The latest procedural revision comes after several years of evolving federal merger policy. During the Biden administration, regulators expanded premerger disclosure requirements and pursued more aggressive antitrust enforcement, arguing that stronger scrutiny was necessary to prevent excessive market concentration and protect consumers. Earlier this year, however, a federal court vacated the updated HSR notification form adopted during that period, prompting the DOJ and FTC to resume accepting filings under the earlier reporting framework while seeking public input on future revisions.

Competition policy remains a central issue in U.S. merger enforcement because regulators evaluate whether proposed transactions could substantially lessen competition, create or strengthen monopoly power, reduce consumer choice, or raise prices. Even under the streamlined process, the DOJ emphasized that it retains full authority to require comprehensive document production and pursue enforcement actions whenever preliminary findings indicate broader competitive risks.

According to Reuters, the DOJ said the targeted review model is not a new concept but a return to an earlier practice that had previously been used in merger investigations. The department stated that it will continue negotiating modifications to Second Requests in appropriate cases while requiring full compliance when a more expansive review is necessary to reach an enforcement decision.

Source: Reuters