UPDATE: On the heels of the Fifth Circuit’s order declining a stay, the FTC, along with the Department of Justice (DOJ), has launched a public inquiry regarding the effectiveness of the New Rules. The FTC announced that it continues to believe that the Old Rules are insufficient, and seeks public input on potential areas for further refinement of the rules in an effort to reduce
Read More FTC Reverts to Long-Standing HSR Reporting Requirements
District Court Vacates HSR Reporting Requirements
Last week, a Texas federal district court vacated the Federal Trade Commission Final Rule from 2025 that expanded the information companies must include in Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) premerger notifications.[1]
The Final Rule, which went into effect in February 2025, greatly increased reporting burdens on parties to a merger or acquisition, including by requiring parties to provide narrative descriptions of their transaction rationale; produce all transaction-specific
Read More District Court Vacates HSR Reporting RequirementsD.C. District Court Blocks FTC Investigation Into Watchdog Journalism Non-Profit, “Media Matters for America”
On August 15, 2025, D.C. District Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) from implementing or enforcing the Civil Investigative Demand (“CID”) that it had issued to the left-wing watchdog journalism organization, Media Matters for America.[1] Judge Sooknanan warned that “[i]t should alarm all Americans when the Government retaliates against individuals or organizations for engaging in constitutionally
Read More D.C. District Court Blocks FTC Investigation Into Watchdog Journalism Non-Profit, “Media Matters for America”D.C. District Court Finds President Trump’s Firing of FTC Commissioner Illegal
UPDATE: The Trump Administration immediately appealed Judge AliKhan’s order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. On July 21, 2025, the Court of Appeals entered an administrative stay, thus temporarily blocking Slaughter’s reinstatement to the FTC. In a one page order, the Court of Appeals explained that the purpose of the stay is to “give the court sufficient opportunity
Read More D.C. District Court Finds President Trump’s Firing of FTC Commissioner Illegal