Conservative, Free-Market Coalition Opposes Weaponizing Antitrust Laws

Today, a coalition of over 30 conservative, free-market groups, and activists released a letter opposing Democratic attempts to weaponize antitrust law. As the legislative clock ticks between now and November, savvy progressives will likely try to rush through any legislation that has a chance of “bipartisan” support.

While left-wing proponents may sell these bills as the answer to conservative censorship online, empowering unaccountable bureaucrats would only increase the potential for government abuse of Americans’ free speech rights, including those of conservatives. The coalition urges Senators to reject antitrust legislation that would give the Biden Administration, and any future administration, new power to reshape the economy.

You can view the letter here or below:

Dear Senator,

Despite full control of Congress and President Joe Biden in the Oval Office, the
Democratic Party finds many of its top legislative priorities stalled.
Polls indicate that Democrats will likely lose control of both the House and
Senate in the midterm election. As the clock ticks between now and November,
savvy progressives will likely try to rush through any legislation that has a chance
of “bipartisan” support.

The “antitrust” over-regulation bills pushed by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)
and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) may come up for a floor vote before the end of this
Congress. While proponents sell these bills as the answer to conservative
censorship online, empowering unaccountable bureaucrats would only increase
the potential for government abuse of Americans’ free speech rights, including
those of conservatives.

We urge you to reject antitrust legislation that would give the Biden
Administration, and any future administration, new power to reshape the
economy. Republicans should reject calls to help the left pass antitrust
bills that would give unelected bureaucrats sweeping new regulatory
authority.

The “American Innovation and Choice Online Act” (S. 2992) would apply to
publicly-traded companies with a $550 billion market capitalization and over 50
million monthly users. The bill also captures privately-held companies with
revenue over $30 billion, hitting companies in sectors beyond Big Tech.

S. 2992 would ban targeted companies from selling or providing private-label
products or services on their own platforms, a practice beneficial to consumers
but negatively branded as “self-preferencing.” Grocery stores do this all the time
when they sell generic goods that are cheaper than the name brands. The last
thing Congress needs to do amid generation-high inflation is reduce access to
generic goods families are reaching for just to make ends meet.

If an unelected bureaucrat determines that a company is guilty, the government
can levy a whopping 15 percent fine of the company’s revenue. For companies
that operate with razor-thin profit margins, like retailers, this fine could easily be
more than a company’s total profits. Another bill marked up by the House
Judiciary Committee would give bureaucrats the power to break companies up
entirely.

Another bill sponsored by Sen. Klobuchar, the “Platform Competition and
Opportunity Act” (S. 3197), would ban companies with a market cap of over
$600 billion from merging with or acquiring other businesses. Here’s the catch –
only companies who have reached this government-determined size at the time
of enactment will get whacked with new mandates. This means that if Target,
Minnesota’s largest company with a $97 billion market cap hits the threshold
somewhere down the line, it will be exempt from these new regulations.

In a recent markup, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) perfectly summarized the intentions
of the Klobuchar antitrust bills: “What do we gain by giving deep-state
bureaucrats control over Big Tech? They don’t want to break up Big Tech to
protect us, but to control it and use it against us.”

Sen. Lee is right – conservatives know that if you give the government an inch of
new power, it will take a mile. Giving the Biden Administration more power to
regulate companies will not fix the problem of conservative censorship. Instead,
companies would likely ramp up censorship of conservatives, as well as other
types of censorship, to avoid government prosecution.

Sen. Klobuchar and other proponents are attempting to jam this antitrust power
grab through Congress to score a last-minute win and claim that they have “done
something” about “Big Tech.” But the approach outlined in these bills, which
Republicans should reject, will harm consumers and cede American tech
leadership to other nations, including China.

Lawmakers should reject efforts to give the executive branch sweeping
new powers over American businesses, let alone the type of new regulatory
authority these bills would enable.

Sincerely,

Grover Norquist
President, Americans for Tax Reform

Phil Kerpen
President, American Commitment

Brent Wm. Gardner
Chief Government Affairs Officer, Americans for Prosperity

Marty Connors
Chair, Alabama Center-Right Coalition

Robert H. Bork Jr.

Andrew F. Quinlan
President, Center for Freedom and Prosperity

Chuck Muth
President, Citizen Outreach

Ashley Baker
Director of Public Policy, Committee for Justice

Curt Levey
President, Committee for Justice

Jessica Melugin
Director of the Center for Technology and Innovation, Competitive Enterprise
Institute

Katie McAuliffe
Executive Director, Digital Liberty

Stephen Moore
Economist

George Landrith
President, Frontiers of Freedom

Travis Korson
Director of Public Policy, Frontiers of Freedom

Heather R. Higgins
CEO, Independent Women’s Voice

Andrew Langer
President, Institute for Liberty

Tom Giovanetti
President, Institute for Policy Innovation

Dr. J. Robert McClure
President, James Madison Institute

Seton Motley
President, Less Government

Caden Rosenbaum
Technology and Innovation Policy Analyst, Libertas Institute

Charles Sauer
President, Market Institute

Douglas Carswell
President & CEO, Mississippi Center for Public Policy

Brandon Arnold
Executive Vice President, National Taxpayers Union

Doug Kellogg
Executive Director, Ohioans for Tax Reform

Tom Hebert
Executive Director, Open Competition Center

William L. O’Brien
Chairman, Pine Tree Public Policy Institute
Chair, New Hampshire Center-Right Coalition

Lorenzo Montanari
Executive Director, Property Rights Alliance

Bryan Bashur
Executive Director, Shareholder Advocacy Forum

Karen Kerrigan
President, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

Kerri Toloczko
Chair, Southwest Florida Center-Right Meeting

Patrick Hedger
Executive Director, Taxpayers Protection Alliance

James L. Martin
Founder/Chairman, 60 Plus Association

Saulius “Saul” Anuzis
President, 60 Plus Association

Casey Givens
Executive Director, Young Voices