DOJ shifts merger enforcement posture

Bloomberg Law reported on July 8 that merger suits have stalled under the Justice Department official overseeing antitrust, as the division has favored settlements over courtroom fights in a series of reviews. The report said DOJ has sued to block only one merger since the start of President Donald Trump’s administration: Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks. That case did not end in a court ruling. The department reached a settlement days before trial that allowed the deal to proceed with divestiture and licensing commitments, according to DOJ and court filings. ### Why does the HPE-Juniper case matter so much here? The Justice Department sued in January 2025 to block HPE’s purchase of Juniper, arguing the combination would reduce competition in enterprise wireless local area networking. HPE and Juniper said at the time that the transaction was pro-competitive and would expand options for customers. (news.bloombergtax.com) July 2025 became the key date because DOJ then settled the case before trial. The department said the agreement required HPE to divest its Instant On business and license certain Juniper software to approved competitors. Bloomberg Law said the settlement was brokered with the involvement of the current DOJ leadership cited in its July 8 report. (hpe.com) ### Which deal is now testing the department’s approach? TransDigm Group’s proposed acquisition of Stellant Systems is the latest merger that career staff recommended challenging, according to Bloomberg Law and other reports that cited people familiar with the matter. Those reports said the matter instead remained in settlement talks and would require signoff from the DOJ official supervising antitrust enforcement. (justice.gov) Insurance Journal, carrying the same reporting, said that official had rejected at least two other recommended merger challenges, according to people familiar with those cases. Bloomberg Law reported that the department’s preference for negotiated resolutions rather than suits was visible across more than a dozen matters. ### Who is driving the change inside DOJ? (news.bloombergtax.com) Stanley Woodward, the DOJ official described in the reporting as overseeing antitrust, has advocated a more hands-off approach to mergers, according to people familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg Law and republished by other outlets. The report said he had privately referred to merger reviews largely as a tax on dealmaking. (insurancejournal.com) The Justice Department has publicly described the HPE-Juniper outcome as a win. In announcing that settlement, DOJ Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle said the department’s lawyers would “continue fighting and winning” for consumers while requiring structural and licensing remedies in the deal. ### What does the record show beyond anonymous sourcing? (msn.com) DOJ’s own release on HPE-Juniper shows the department accepted a remedy package rather than pressing the case to judgment. A February 2026 antitrust outlook from Rule Garza Howley said the Trump administration’s DOJ and FTC were likely to continue accepting remedies in mergers that raised concerns while litigating only cases they believed could not be fixed through settlements. (justice.gov) October 2025 also brought outside resistance to that approach. California Attorney General Rob Bonta said a coalition of 13 attorneys general sought to intervene in the HPE-Juniper matter, calling the DOJ settlement “allegedly corrupt” and inadequate. ### What should readers watch next? July 8 is the latest public reporting date on the TransDigm-Stellant review, and Bloomberg Law said settlement discussions were continuing at that point. (justice.gov) Any DOJ complaint, consent decree or closing statement in that matter would provide the next concrete test of whether merger enforcement continues to run through negotiated remedies rather than new litigation. (news.bloombergtax.com) (oag.ca.gov)