North America Antitrust Digest | January 2026

A quick look at the top headlines in Antitrust and Competition

1. Trump’s Antitrust Affordability Agenda

2. David MacNeil Nominated by White House to FTC Vacancy  

3. 2025 Antitrust Review and Major Trial Lookahead 

A breakdown of the latest news, moves and trends

Trump’s Antitrust Affordability Agenda 

The Trump administration has signaled that antitrust and competition policy is likely to play a key role in the president’s broader affordability agenda and messaging ahead of the 2026 midterms.  

In a Truth Social post last week, Trump stated he was “immediately taking steps to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes, and [he] will be calling on Congress to codify it.” However, specific details on how the ban would work in practice have not been released. The administration also hasn't defined "large" institutional investors or stated whether they would be required to sell their current portfolios.  

President Trump also endorsed the Credit Card Competition Act this week, bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Roger Marshall (R-MO) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) designed to lower swipe fees by requiring large banks with more than $100 billion in assets to enable at least two unaffiliated card networks (including one outside Visa/Mastercard). However, it’s not clear that either proposal could pass in the deeply divided and tight-margined Congress.  

Additionally, President Trump has sought to lower interest rates to reduce costs for American consumers. Last week, he directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy up to $200 billion in mortgage-backed bonds in an effort to bring down mortgage interest rates. President Trump is notably also seeking to revive a campaign pledge to cap credit card interest rates at 10% and is pressuring Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to lower interest rates. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a staunch critic of President Trump, stated she supported his proposal to cap credit card interest rates after Trump called her following a speech she gave calling on the Democratic party to embrace economic populism. 

Separately, in December, President Trump issued an Executive Order directing the DOJ and FTC to conduct potentially far-reaching antitrust investigations into the entire food supply chain to determine if anticompetitive conduct is contributing to the high cost of food. The Order notes meat processing, seed, fertilizer, and equipment as being a focus for the agencies. The order also gives the agencies broad authority to address anticompetitive conduct, including bringing enforcement actions, proposing new regulatory approaches, and commence criminal proceedings as appropriate, including grand jury investigations. 

Bottom Line: Both Democrats and Republicans are messaging on lowering costs for American people ahead of the midterm elections. How the Trump administration uses tools such as antitrust enforcement and competition policy to make its affordability case will be an important development for companies to watch throughout the year – and could create strange bedfellows between the two parties.

Developments and deals to watch

David MacNeil Nominated by White House to FTC Vacancy 

On January 13, the White House nominated David MacNeil, the billionaire CEO of automobile accessory company WeatherTech, to the FTC Commissioner seat formerly held by Republican Melissa Holyoak. MacNeil has been a frequent donor to Republican campaigns and committees, but his views on antitrust, competition, and consumer protection policy are largely unknown. 

It was previously reported that Ryan Baasch, a former counsel to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, would be nominated for the seat. He will instead be named deputy director of the National Economic Council (NEC) where he will work on technology and competition issues, replacing Robin Colwell, who left the post at the beginning of the year to become head of Government Affairs at Intel.  

The FTC is typically headed by five commissioners, but after President Trump’s dismissal of Democratic commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter in March 2025, and the withdrawn nomination of Baasch, only chair Andrew Ferguson and Republican Commissioner Mark Meador remain. While the FTC can technically meet with as little as one Commissioner, operating with only two members could impact some of the FTC’s decision-making in the short term. Democrats are also likely to press President Trump to nominate another Democratic Commissioner, and the Supreme Court is poised to rule this spring on the legality of President Trump’s firing of Kelly Slaughter.  

Bottom Line: MacNeil’s nomination is an unconventional choice and raises questions about the direction and operations of the FTC going forward, including the future of current Chair Andrew Ferguson. Bloomberg recently reported that Ferguson is under consideration by the Trump administration to oversee a new fraud unit in the Justice Department. This unit, announced by Vice President JD Vance last week, would be housed separate from existing DOJ sections dedicated to criminal and civil fraud investigations.   

Essential insights and analysis

2025 Antitrust Review and Major Trial Lookahead 

In 2025, the Trump administration brought notable shifts in antitrust enforcement, though the direction has proven different from what many observers initially anticipated. When President Trump nominated Gail Slater to lead the DOJ's Antitrust Division and selected JD Vance as Vice President – both figures associated with the Republican Party's populist wing and critical of Big Tech concentration – many analysts predicted some continuity with the Biden administration's aggressive enforcement posture. 

However, the administration's actual enforcement approach has charted a distinct course that differs from both the Biden era and traditional Republican antitrust policy. The Trump DOJ and FTC have demonstrated greater willingness to negotiate settlements and accept structural remedies than their Biden administration predecessors, including in high-profile cases such as Omnicom-Interpublic and UnitedHealth-Amedisys. The White House has also taken a more visible role in merger review processes, with broader political policy objectives appearing to influence enforcement decisions alongside traditional competition analysis. For example, the FCC approved of AT&T’s acquisition of USCellular after the companies committed to dropping their DEI programs and policies.  

Expect these trends to continue into 2026 as President Trump continues to assert his control over the executive branch and expand the authority of the presidency. Case in point: Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that DOJ antitrust enforcers who wanted to investigate the $1.6 billion merger of Compass and Anywhere Real Estate, the country’s two biggest real-estate brokerages, were overruled by senior officials who thought the deal should be greenlighted. While it is not unusual for decisions on filing a complaint to involve discussions with DOJ leadership offices, this decision was made before any investigation could begin. 

At the same time, several significant antitrust matters will reach critical junctures in 2026 in key cases that have been percolating over the past several years. These include: 

• Google Ad Tech Remedies: In November, Judge Leonie Brinkema heard closing arguments in Google’s ad tech remedies case, following her previous ruling that Google illegally monopolized the ad tech market. It is expected that Judge Brinkema will issue a ruling on what remedies will be imposed on Google this year, though timing remains uncertain. The DOJ has called for a breakup of Google’s ad exchange technology, while Google has argued for a narrower intervention consisting of contractual and interoperability commitments. 

• Live Nation / Ticketmaster: The DOJ's case against Live Nation proceeds to trial in May, examining allegations that the company's integrated control of ticketing, promotion, and venues constitutes unlawful monopolization of live entertainment markets. This case will test theories of vertical integration harm and exclusionary conduct in a sector characterized by network effects and two-sided market dynamics. 

• Visa: The DOJ's September 2024 lawsuit against Visa alleging debit network monopolization has yet to receive a trial date, though court watchers expect a trial to occur this year.  

• Meanwhile, major cases against Apple and Amazon have been pushed to 2027, extending the timeline for resolution of significant technology sector litigation. While the lawsuits against the two companies were brought under the Biden administration, it was the first Trump administration that initiated antitrust investigations into the companies.