Federal regulators are launching aggressive antitrust challenges in housing and food markets while navigating a Texas court ruling that struck down new premerger reporting requirements.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are escalating their campaign to dismantle corporate monopolies, targeting essential sectors from rental housing to food production. This surge in enforcement comes as federal regulators move to address the human cost of market power, focusing on industries where consolidation has left small businesses and consumers with dwindling options. Despite administrative hurdles and a significant legal setback in Texas, the agencies are doubling down on litigation to preserve market competition.
On July 6, 2026, the DOJ and several states filed U.S. and Plaintiff States v. RealPage, Inc., alleging the company’s pricing software enables a digital cartel among landlords to artificially inflate rents. This follows the June 29 filings against Cal-Maine Foods, the nation’s largest egg producer, and Live Nation Entertainment. These cases signal a departure from passive oversight, with regulators now actively challenging the algorithmic and structural tools used by dominant firms to dictate market terms.
The scale of this intervention is highlighted in the 48th Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Annual Report. In fiscal year 2025, regulators tracked 2,006 reportable deals, with nearly 32% valued over $1 billion. In response, the DOJ and FTC launched 18 enforcement actions across healthcare, energy, and manufacturing. These actions included litigation and settlements that forced corporations to restructure or abandon mergers that threatened to stifle competition. The data underscores a period of intense scrutiny for billion-dollar transactions that seek to alter the industrial landscape.
However, the agencies face procedural turmoil. A federal judge in the Eastern District of Texas recently vacated the FTC’s 2024 overhaul of the HSR premerger notification form. This ruling forces a return to older filing requirements as of February 19, 2026, potentially easing the immediate paperwork burden for merging companies. In response to such challenges, FTC Chair Ferguson announced a strategic shift: the commission will now challenge mergers exclusively in federal court, abandoning its traditional in-house administrative proceedings to expedite legal showdowns.
To further tighten oversight, the DOJ and FTC are drafting new guidance on competitor collaborations. These updates will replace guidelines from 2000, specifically targeting algorithmic pricing, data sharing, and labor collaborations. While the federal government maintains its aggressive posture, some states are taking independent action; Indiana implemented its own “mini-HSR” law on July 1 to monitor local mergers. Federal offices have pledged to remain operational during any budget disruptions to ensure merger reviews continue without pause.
Despite this administrative push, the DOJ’s internal controls have faced recent criticism. A July 12 report detailed the movement of “seized” cryptocurrency from a convicted scammer’s accounts to unknown wallets while he was in prison. The DOJ admitted to a gap between legal forfeiture and the technical ability to secure digital assets. While the department’s “Scam Center Strike Force” claims to have frozen $580 million in recent months, this security failure highlights the practical difficulties the government faces in policing the digital frontier of modern commerce.
Greg Sanders serves as the Senior Correspondent for Corporate Power and Antitrust at Just Right News, where he brings a principled, conservative perspective to the complex intersection of big business, government regulation, and the American consumer. With a career dedicated to investigative depth and economic clarity, Greg has become a leading voice in examining how the consolidation of industry power impacts the foundational values of the free market and individual liberty.
Raised in Denver, Colorado, Greg’s reporting is deeply informed by the Western spirit of independence and a healthy skepticism of centralized authority. Growing up in the shadows of the Rockies, he witnessed firsthand the importance of local entrepreneurship and the vital role that small-medium enterprises play in sustaining vibrant communities. This upbringing instilled in him a belief that the American Dream is best preserved when the playing field remains level and when competition—rather than backroom deals between corporate lobbyists and federal regulators—dictates success. For Greg, the rugged individualism of his home state serves as a constant reminder that the economy should serve the people, not the other way around.
Now based in Chicago, Illinois, Greg operates from the heart of the nation’s industrial and financial crossroads. His location in the Midwest provides him with a unique vantage point to observe the real-world consequences of corporate overreach. From the boardrooms of the Loop to the manufacturing hubs that define the region, he tracks the movement of capital and the shifting tides of market influence. Chicago’s history as a center of trade and labor offers a rich backdrop for his work, allowing him to bridge the gap between high-level economic theory and the lived experiences of hardworking Americans who feel the squeeze of monopolistic practices.
At Just Right News, Greg’s beat focuses on the “new monopolies” and the rise of “woke” corporate culture. He argues that when corporations become too large, they often abandon their fiduciary duties to shareholders in favor of social engineering and political posturing. His reporting seeks to hold these “Titans” accountable, ensuring that the power of the purse is not used to silence dissent or bypass the democratic process. He is a firm advocate for the idea that true conservatism requires a vigilant defense of competition, preventing any single entity—public or private—from exerting undue control over the lives of citizens.
This mission is most clearly seen in his acclaimed feature series, “The Titans and the Toll.” In this ongoing project, Greg explores the human cost of market consolidation, from the erosion of consumer choice to the decline of local economies. Through rigorous analysis and boots-on-the-ground reporting, he documents how the concentration of power in sectors like tech, agriculture, and finance creates a “toll” paid by the average family.
Greg Sanders remains committed to the idea that a transparent, competitive market is the greatest engine for prosperity ever devised. Through his work at Just Right News, he continues to provide the essential oversight necessary to protect that engine from the encroaching influence of corporate giants and the bureaucratic structures that enable them.