Five Must-Watch Antitrust Storylines for 2026

As an eventful 2025 in antitrust and competition comes to an end and we look forward to 2026, we reflect on the things that changed—and some things that did not—over the last year.

• Some things did not change:
• Reforms to the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act adopted during the Biden Administration went into effect, and the 2023 Merger Guidelines were retained; and
• Big Tech litigation continued, with courts reaching big decisions on remedies and liability.
  
  
• Some things have definitely changed:
• New leadership has taken over at the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the FTC is now down to two Republican members after Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter were removed, and Melissa Holyoak resigned;
• For merger clearance, divestitures are back, with at least nine divesture packages resulting in consummated transactions. Also, early terminations restarted, totaling over 100 before year-end; and
• For labor enforcement, the FTC abandoned the prior administration’s broad non-compete rule in favor of a case-by-case approach. 

What changes are expected to come in 2026? Here, we review five developing situations worth monitoring in the coming year.

1) Divestiture Remedies Returned in 2025 and Will Continue

During the Biden Administration, the FTC and DOJ generally refused to accept divestitures as a way for parties to get deals cleared. The DOJ and FTC have departed from that policy during the first year of the Trump Administration, accepting structural remedies, including divestitures, to clear several deals in the last year. Expect this trend to continue.  

2) Agriculture Enforcement is On the Table

The Trump Administration has issued an executive order directing the DOJ and FTC to investigate whether anti-competitive behavior is causing food prices to rise, or if such behavior otherwise threatens America’s national or economic security interests. The executive order may result in increased antitrust enforcement for firms operating in the food supply markets, including investigations into possible anti-competitive behavior and a closer review of mergers in agricultural markets.

3) Enforcement Will Continue in Labor & Employment

In 2025, the FTC pivoted from a sweeping, one-size-fits-all ban on non-compete clauses to a case-by-case enforcement strategy, expressly abandoning the prior rulemaking while reaffirming non-compete enforcement as a priority. Now the FTC is focusing on individual scenarios where non-competes are deemed “an unfair method of competition,” particularly where restrictions are blanket, lengthy, or unconnected to legitimate business needs. The FTC has also requested public input on the scope, prevalence, and effects of employer non-competes and, consistent with its sharpened focus on labor markets, issued warning letters to several large healthcare employers. Collectively, these actions signal a shift toward targeted, facts-and-circumstances scrutiny, robust information-gathering, and possibly heightened compliance expectations.

4) Expansion of State Enforcement

2025 saw an expansion in state-level antitrust enforcement. For example, New York enacted a law targeting surveillance pricing in order to prevent retailers from utilizing customer data to increase pricing based on previous online shopping history. At least 10 other states are following suit and have bills pending that would either ban surveillance pricing outright or require disclosures. Additionally, Washington and Colorado enacted mini-HSR laws requiring additional state filings for certain HSR-reportable transactions.

With this recent push in state-level enforcement, states are making efforts to grow their institutional capacity. For example, Minnesota and New Jersey have created newly dedicated antitrust divisions, New York opened four new positions for antitrust enforcement, and several state legislatures are appropriating additional funding for antitrust enforcement to their Attorney General offices. With all of these moves, expect more state-led antitrust enforcement in 2026.

5) Focus on Media and Entertainment

The media and entertainment industries continue to face impactful class action and agency litigation, along with major deals. Expect careful government monitoring as these cases and deals further develop in 2026.