Washington, D.C. — In response to news that the Senate Committee on Appropriations has released the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Fiscal Year 2025 Appropriations Bill, which increases the Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s budget by 24% and grants them full access to income from the merger filing fees, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.

“This CJS funding bill is a big win. We’re thrilled to see bipartisan Committee leaders, led by Senator Shaheen, reach an agreement that gives the DOJ Antitrust Division the resources it needs to pursue their mission of protecting competition in the economy” said Morgan Harper, Director of Policy and Advocacy at the American Economic Liberties Project. “In addition to a well-deserved funding increase, the Senate has made sure the DOJ gets full access to fees from the Merger Filing Fees Modernization Act in line with what Congress intended. This will go a long way towards the Division’s work to block harmful mergers, take on the biggest monopolies, and guard against anticompetitive tactics like price fixing—all of which end up saving taxpayers millions. We applaud Senator Shaheen’s leadership and now urge the House to ensure the Division gets the funding it needs to protect consumers, honest businesses, workers and our economy.”

Learn more about Economic Liberties here. 

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.