Year-end Bill To Avert Government Shutdown Includes Significant Changes To Antitrust Law

On Friday, December 23, 2022, the House of Representatives passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (the "Act") after the Senate had passed the Act on Thursday with bipartisan support. President Biden is expected to sign the Act shortly, averting a potential government shutdown. In addition to 12 separate fiscal year 2023 appropriations bills, the Act includes a host of non-funding related legislation, including three separate antitrust bills: (1) the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act, (2) the State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act, and (3) the Foreign Merger Subsidy Disclosure Act. Not included in the Act were several more sweeping and substantive changes to antitrust law that Congress has considered, including the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (which aimed to limit tech companies from preferencing their own products) and the Open App Markets App (which aimed to impose additional regulations on certain large app stores). Nonetheless, the included