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The Clock Is Running Out For Congress To Pass Big Tech Antitrust Bills This Year

By  |  May 15, 2022

By Jon Swartz, MarketWatch

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    Nearly three years ago, when the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission launched probes into the business practices of Big Tech, antitrust experts and legal talking heads declared a new age in enforcement and a chastening of unbridled financial power.

    But a pandemic and countless bill markups later — amid feverish lobbying efforts by Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook parent company Meta — there is still no significant US law and a real possibility there will be none for several years.

    With a midterm election looming in the fall, and both houses of Congress about to take an extended recess in August, the prospect of antitrust legislation is dimming. Policy experts deem the next three months a “jump ball” moment with the real possibility that if bills don’t become laws by Labor Day, nothing will happen until a new administration in 2025, cautions one tech policy expert.

    “It could be years before the stars align again to do something impactful,” Paul Gallant, tech policy analyst at Cowen, told MarketWatch. “The summer of 2022 has always been the do-or-die period.”

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