Antitrust Guidelines and Bills in Congress

Antitrust laws exist to prevent monopolies and to promote fair and health competition in the market. In 2025, the NLRB issued new guidance surrounding antitrust issues, and Congress introduced several new bills.

Right before President Trump was inaugurated in January 2025, the NLRB issued new antitrust guidelines aimed at preventing employer collusion and restrictions on employee mobility. With the change in administration, it's uncertain whether these new guidelines will stay in place.

In early 2025, House Republicans introduced legislation aimed at reducing the FTC's authority over mergers, arguing the current system over-regulates business, inhibits growth, and stifles innovation.



There are two takeaways for employers:

First, under the recently-issued NLRB guidelines, businesses of all sizes, including small and medium-sized businesses, need to ensure the non-compete agreements they require employees to sign are reasonable and enforceable under state law, under the FTC’s enforcement guidelines, and, now, under the NLRB’s enforcement guidelines.

Second, there’s clearly a lot of attention on the federal level to antitrust laws – the bills introduced thus far would apply to the largest of organizations and the most significant of mergers and acquisitions – those that would arguably create monopolies or otherwise negatively impact competitive market conditions. Not so much, though, for the rest of Main Street, the small businesses that are otherwise the backbone of our economy.