Plan to Speed Up Merger Reviews Angers Senator

Antitrust enforcers at the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission moved ahead Tuesday with their new plan for dividing merger reviews over the angry objections of Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ernest F. Hollings (D.-S.C.).

The Justice Department would get authority over all deals in the media and entertainment business as part of the deal, which the agencies said was aimed at speeding up reviews.

Originally planned for January, the initiative got sidetracked by criticism from Democrats at the FTC and in Congress.

The department and the FTC said they had been engaged in extensive consultation with lawmakers, but Hollings said that dialogue had not finished and hinted that he could wield his funding power over the agencies.

“I believe this is in violation of appropriations law, which states that we be consulted,” said Hollings, who also is chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction that includes the Justice Department and the FTC.

The heads of the FTC and the Justice Department’s antitrust division signed a memorandum that gives each more clear-cut authority over a variety of U.S. industries.

“Allocating industry sectors in a more rational manner will enable the department to investigate more efficiently possible anti-competitive conduct affecting consumers and will provide greater certainty to the business community, all of which is good for consumers,” said Justice Department antitrust chief Charles James.

The FTC is run by an independent, bipartisan board of commissioners. The Justice Department is an agency of the executive branch.

FTC Chairman Tim Muris said the department will get jurisdiction over media and entertainment because “its expertise in this area far outweighs that of the FTC.”

Critics such as FTC Commissioner Mozelle Thompson had said ceding that authority to the Justice Department “may deprive consumers of the benefit of the commission’s independence, expertise and knowledge.”

Muris fanned the flames of the dispute even further last month when he decided to cede to the department the review of Comcast Corp.’s bid to buy AT&T; Corp.’s cable operations.

The agreement gives the Justice Department authority over aeronautics, agriculture and associated biotechnology, avionics, beer, computer software, cosmetics and hair care, defense electronics, financial services, insurance and stock, option, bond and commodity markets, flat glass, health insurance, industrial equipment, media and entertainment, metals, mining and minerals, missiles, tanks and armored vehicles, naval defense products, photography and film, pulp, paper, lumber and timber, telecommunications services and equipment, travel and transportation, waste.

The agreement gives the FTC authority over airframes, autos and trucks, building materials, chemicals, computer hardware, energy, grocery manufacturing, the operation of grocery stores, health care, industrial gases, munitions, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, professional services, the operation of retail stores, satellite manufacturing and launch vehicles and textiles.